An Introduction to Death
by fundamental blue
Summary: S/E AU, maybe OOC for Sookie and Eric. Strong, more fae Sookie. A very eventual relationship between Eric and Sookie, with a longer term separation in between meeting one another.
1. Chapter 1

Hi all,

I'd love to hear feedback, whether through reviews or PMs. Beta'd by Suzymeinen

The whispers of everyone and their mother's internal monologue unknowingly pressed at me, per their usual. I had been trying to achieve a greater amount of control over the feeling of other's intrusive thoughts, but mostly the lackthereof would have been nice. My eyes darted over to a man sitting in a booth by the window looking miserable. Instinctively I shushed the hubbub of the restaurant and reached into his head to listen.

 _I don't really want to be here. Good god if my mother talks about how I am supposed to accept her umpteenth boyfriend soon-to-be-husband as a step father, I will vomit all over her face. No joke. I do NOT get the attempt at redemption using new relationships to recreate what never was. If she just apologized for what she did…._

Poor guy. I have mommy issues too. And daddy issues. But it isn't really my fault. They died in a car accident and even though I resented them not being here, I know they didn't mean it. I withdrew my mind back into the din around me. It was a little after 4pm and I had time to practice concentrating on my little "gift" of telepathy while I waited for the dinner rush to arrive at Merlotte's Bar & Grill. I'd been waitressing here for years, not having left for college. There were a lot of excuses I didn't go and they probably weren't good reasons, but for one. I just happen to be a telepath and large crowds are panic attacks waiting to happen. If high school had been bad, going to a university would have been like sticking my finger into a light bulb socket.

I was listening to the fragmented musings of the restaurant's patrons and I realized, as I often did, that my life was falling into the isolation of a small southern town. At 25 I was living with my Grandmother in a rather large house for the both of us. Grandfather had died when I was young, and when my parents died Gran had taken my brother Jason and I in.

The house had been built by my great-great-great grandfather and it suited my need for privacy. Old southern houses echoed a past where the families of these great houses lived in relative opulence. Not now. Houses fell into disrepair, families moved away where the jobs were, and the town deteriorated. Bon Temp, Louisiana had a small population of closely knit people, and in that subset there were about 30-50 people who were in my age range. Divide that in half and I had 15-25 potential male partners, not including those who were already committed. So maybe 10, at most 20? Then add the fact that everyone in Bon Temp and towns beyond thought I was bonkers. It put me in a tough position of finding a date, much less a husband. I liked the idea of one, but it probably wouldn't work out. Not that this was a bad thing. I figured I could be sad about the things I couldn't have, or I could be happy about what I did possess.

Unfortunately I've been able to peer inside the minds of others for as long as I could remember. And yes, people's thoughts are uncomfortable. Even nice people had filthy thoughts sometimes. I felt worlds apart; inhuman and alone while I listened to their insecurities, their self-centered ignorance of anything outside themselves. _But who am I to judge. I'm sure if someone could read my thoughts they'd think I have a smart mouth and live in a gutter with the rest of humanity._

In any case, I never dated, never loved romantically or slept with anyone, by choice. There was no way to date someone while listening to what they thought about me all the time. _Oh she has nice breasts._ That was one of the nicer thoughts I'd gotten from boys.

I heard laughter coming from one of the tables in the bar. It was a group of girls and guys around my age drinking, which was all there was to do around here in Bon Temp. A pang of loneliness hit.

 _She is such a pathetic piece of trash. Look at her looking at us, probably thinking of more lies to say about what we're thinking._

It hurt hearing things like this. This particular incident was one of the last times I had tried to 'help'. The source of the silent venom had been Kelsey, who had an unfaithful partner by the name of Joe.

" _Kelsey, look I know you think I'm crazy like everyone else, but Joe isn't bein' faithful to you. He's stepped out with a stripper from Shreveport and-"_

" _What the fuck did you say to me? You don't have any right to come up to me and tell me these kinds of… lies." Kelsey looked stunned for a moment before hardening her features into one of offense before continuing. "I was never mean to you in highschool, never teased you or any of that! But they were right, weren't they? You're nuts. Straight jacket crazy."_

" _I'm sorry, I-"_

" _Stop trying to ruin people's lives, Sookie. It's why no one likes you!"_

I had a good game face but the feeling of having done something wrong, even when I hadn't really, never subsided. Joe had been cheating, well, was cheating on Kelsey. But it doesn't matter if someone doesn't want to hear the truth. All of Joe's friend's knew and even a few of Kelsey's. But even they would say "don't listen to crazy ole' Sookie Stackhouse". People are walking contradictions most times. _Someone is going to get pregnant and it ain't gonna to be Kelsey._

When I was young, I couldn't control hearing everyone thinking around me. It took years to come up with some sort of shield, but not before I had alienated everyone in town outside family, Tara my best friend, my boss and fellow waitresses who had to get along with me since we worked together.

The table of twentysomethings were now staring at me out of the corner of my eye. A few were laughing behind their hands. It was like highschool all over again.

"Oh honey don't you mind those kids. They wouldn't be acting this way if their mothers were here!" The bottle-redhead Arlene swung over by me with an empty tray hanging in her hands. She was smart enough to not put an arm around me, to confirm to the others that I was wounded. I liked Arlene, and I liked that she thought of looking out for me like finding a lost child in the grocery store. Maybe that's condescending to others, but sometimes that's how it felt when she would usher me away from others when I would get that usual grimace.

Sometimes I thought about giving people, like the ones over at the table giggling, their just desserts and issue them a laundry list of all the terrible things they'd thought and things they'd done to each other. But I then imagined Gran's disappointment, and my own. It wasn't something I'd ever actually do.

"Thanks Arlene for looking out for me. It would help if the rush would start and I could get a table instead of getting stared at by them. You'd think they'd have somethin' better to do. Apparently not." I said that last bit loud enough for them to hear. Serves them right to know their opinion ain't wanted.

"Looks like your next table just walked in!" She looked pleased as punch, as if she had summoned the customers to the bar herself just for me. They were a nice looking couple and I led them over to my section, handing them menus as they sat down.

"Welcome to Merlotte's, what can I get for ya'll today?" I said cheerily. The husband and wife looked at each other, distracted by the fact that they hadn't had a date together in ages and they hardly knew what to say or do regarding the other person. They had become strangers in some respects. The things having children can do to you.

"Uh, I will have a Bud Light and I think she will have…. a Stella? You like the Stella right honey?" He asked with such concern that he had gotten it wrong. It weighed on him that he had forgotten critical facts about his wife, whom he loved.

"Oh yes darling". She turned to me with her genuine smile of happiness at her husband having remembered.

"Comin' right up then!" I cooed. It was second nature to lean on my customer's thoughts to ensure I provided the best service to them. Lately I had concerns about my reliance on my ability and how it effectively propped up my interactions with others artificially. I felt a bit dim that I hadn't realized this sooner.

 _Look at that fucking bitch Sookie. She may think that blonde hair, blue eyes with a nice T and A is good enough, but the only way she'd ever look hot is on my dick._

Mack Rattray. Creepers gonna creep. At least his equally yucky wife wasn't here. I was convinced they stayed married because they wanted to one up each other on who was the worst person between the two of them.

Sam Merlotte, my boss and the bar's owner, always ran the bar and made the drinks. Inasmuch as anyone ever ordered anything but beer and shots. "Bud Light and a Stella please! With a single cold glass". Of course, I had seen in my customer's heads how they would drink their beer. The woman wanted a cold glass, and was planning on asking me for one as soon as the beer arrived. I snagged my drinks just as Sam set them down and proceeded to my table.

"Here you are! Have ya'll had enough time with the menus?" The woman said nothing at first, waiting on her husband to order for them. It was a small happiness she cherished.

As he gave me his order and then his wife's, I could hear the woman question how I knew to get her the glass, but the woman chalked it up to me being a good waitress. _Little does she know._

Order finished, I went back to the bar to wait for my table's food and to see when the next customers came in.

I found it was better to frame anyone's questions about "how she knew" as something related to myself. _Oh I like to drink out of cold glasses all the time, and I just had a thought you might be like me._ I imagined the exchange. Before my learning the extent of my ability, first came the need for survival.

"Never let on to people what you are", said Gran. "Who you are, yes. You are wonderful, and special. Always believe that you are loved and deserve the best. But your gift is not something everyone will understand. And they don't have to. Don't subject your self-worth to their scrutiny. And Sookie, do take care that you do not cause them to want to hurt you by parading their fears in front of them."

These words had helped bolster my fragile self esteem in my youth. All teenagers want to belong, however they may act aloof and above the rest. I was not exempt from these feelings, and reading other's thoughts made belonging an impossibility. It could have moulded itself into hardness, but somewhere along the line I picked the path of being as nice as possible. Genuinely nice. Unless they did something to deserve a little bit of smite. Most people meant well. And like many things, the relationship with the townspeople and myself was a bell curve. The good ones might not outweigh the bad or neutral in numbers, but I didn't have to listen to those people.

My only real friend, besides my brother Jason, was Tara. Tara came from a broken home with an alcoholic-addict mother. She knew what survival was, in a completely different manner than myself. But that did not matter; what did was that Tara was not afraid of me. I loved her deeply for it. The fun things we got up to using my gift to play pranks on people were the hallmark of my childhood. _Like that time we moved all of Mrs. Bellefleur's potted plants around multiple times. She never figured it out! Never thought cute little Sookie would do such a thing._ I had used my mental scanner to ensure she wasn't coming near us. Tara and I had ruthlessly exploited every aspect our young minds could think up, which wasn't that much compared to the thoughts I'd been having lately about how to use my gift.

The door clinked. I instinctively looked up since I was up in rotation. The man who walked in was an average height with pale skin, soft blue eyes and black hair. Reflexively my mind reached for him. Nothing. Not a single thing was there on the spot where the man stood. I had never met anyone who didn't have thoughts pouring out of his or her head. _Maybe he's just polite and doesn't think anything._ I said to calm myself. Who didn't _think_ anything?

But there truly wasn't 'anything' there where the man stood. It was a vat of emptiness, and I sunk into it. A black hole that ate and ate my attempts to get inside. I pulled out and looked into the eyes of this stranger of a man. He didn't smile at me, or seem to notice how my body was tensing. Instead he held my gaze and I tried not to break under the weight of quiet and emptiness in front of me.

"Hi there! Booth or table?" I distantly heard the sound of my voice.

"Either."

The house of my mind was on fire. Everything was burning and I was burning up with it. I could hear the roar of my blood over his words. I had only just realized that this was happening. I had met someone I could not hear, for the first time in my life. _Yippie skippy._

Despite all the turmoil rolling through me, I wrapped myself up in a smile and a skip as I lead him to a booth with a menu. He pushed the menu away.

"What can I get for you to drink?"

"I'll take a bottle of True Blood."

"Be right back with that!" I kept the smile on my face not a second longer than it took for me to face away from him. I walked how I always walked to the bar but with my insides churning. Vampire. I felt less responsible for my perceived failure to read him immediately.

Vampires had only come out in the past couple years, and most of the media wasn't able to handle it without jokes and laughs about silver, garlic and crucifixes. Small town America and the deep south hadn't woken up to the reality that the undead were among us. I'd always thought that a vampire would blink at Bon Temp and immediately walk away with contempt. _Maybe they like the swamps for body disposal._

Ever since True Blood was invented, word on the street was that vampires didn't need to eat people anymore. _I'm sure drinking luke warm blood ain't the same thing as what they're used to._ I shivered.

I stood at the bar, saying nothing. Luckily Sam had already heard the order and placed the bottle on the counter, warmed. He kept his hand on it and his keep-sookie-safe eyes bored into my skull.

"Sookie, we only have O blood type. But for the future if we get more vamps as customers we may stock more variety. Don't worry about anything cher."

"Thanks Sam." Just as Sam knew I was a telepath, I knew he was a shifter. For a while I thought it was just our supernatural status that bound us together and generated these moments of protectiveness from him, but he was falling in love with me. I could hear his thoughts occasionally and always his emotions. His feelings started with a need to keep me safe and ended in his loneliness for someone to understand him. Honestly it bothered me that he wanted to sweep me up like some princess and hide me in a castle from the rest of the world. That feeling of him constantly trying to keep me away from things when I was a person who liked exploring irked me such that I never considered moving Sam out of the friend zone.

Normally I would have been acting a lot more interested in a vampire, but I also didn't expect that they'd be so unlike humans as to not broadcast their thoughts.

"Here you go sir. Can I get you anything else?"

"Not presently, no. Thank you".

He sat there for the remainder of the evening. 5:00pm until 11pm just as my shift was finishing up. And then there was his watching me from his booth. Back and forth. Even Arlene noticed and was weirded out.

"That man has been eye'n you all night Sookie. Do you need a ride home with someone?"

"Thanks Arlene, but I think I'll be fine with Sam here."

"Ok Sookie... " She said, disbelief in her voice regarding my safety.

My nerves were completely frayed by this point and he had drank 6 True Bloods, exhausting our supply. He was watching me slowly and agonizingly lose my mind. I had been totally fine for the first hour, apprehensive the second, annoyed the third, freaked out the fourth and the fifth and sixth had been spent fuming punctuated by fear. Sam tried to reach out and comfort me, and I kept telling him I was fine even when I wasn't. When I am afraid, I know I turn into a controlling 'I can do this all-on-my-own' kind of girl. I was like that all the time, but especially when I felt scared which wasn't often. The object of my fear sat there. And sat there. Staring and sipping mechanically like some Las Vegas statue that you pay to move. _Too bad he can't be paid to leave._ _Is he fucking enjoying my discomfort? What an uncivilized vampire... man... person._

I hardly noticed anyone else was in the bar around 10:45pm but the vampire until I caught a thought. Mack was thinking about vampire blood, chattering away in his mind about the vampire who had been sitting here for hours. He was slouched in a booth nursing a tepid miller lite, waiting for the vampire to step out. His girlfriend and friend had already been texted and were waiting outside to throw silver all over him and take every last bit of his blood.

Most of the time I had committed to never getting involved in anyone's business, but I'd never heard someone contemplating murder either. Plus, saving the vampire's life could work out well for me. At the very least it would put me on a more even footing with someone who I had no other leverage over. _I can't believe I'm thinking about how to put myself on top of this situation! Am I that frightened of one measly vampire that I want to save his life in order to force him to respect my space?_

I leaned down with my hand on the vampire's table and whispered "The man in the corner booth. Don't look. He is planning to throw a silver net on you and drain you outside. He has two helpers. Please be cautious upon leaving." He looked up at my face and finally his expression changed from unimpassioned to one of sharp interest. With his hand placed upon mine ever so briefly, he said thank you.

I stood up and walked away, pulling my hand out from under his fingers. He was cold, did not breathe, nor did he have any of the twitches and rumbles of a normal person's body. Truly he was a statue and I contemplated telling him he could make a killing in Vegas if he wanted to spray paint himself gold or silver.

***Sam***

Sam watched Sookie with an ache. Any interest from her in anyone or anything felt painful. Sookie's heart was locked tight, along with her mind. Nothing shook her, in my experience. And yet, that vampire walked in and managed to extract more from her than I ever had. Sookie's glances at the vampire's table as he looked at her, how her whole path and body rotated around him. Jealousy hit in waves. I did not blame her for being curious, but I started to imagine having to grieve over a relationship that I had not yet had with her.

***Sookie***

I was finishing up, cleaning my tables and removing my apron. Mack had already left to go wait out front. The vampire had paid after I had told him about the man in the booth, giving me $200 and told me to keep the change. I almost felt off balanced, but then I reminded myself that a $140 something tip was a paltry sum for saving someone's life. He stood just as I was finished cleaning my last table besides his. He walked towards me calmly, stepping a little too close to me before stopping. I could feel his presence, even if I couldn't get inside his head.

"May I use your back entrance?"

"Sam?"

"If he needs to, I see nothing wrong with it." He faltered though. It was clear he was only saying yes because I asked. He'd likely want an explanation.

"Come along then." I confidently bounced in front of him to the back, pony tail swinging.

We walked through the back, past the kitchen and towards the shoddy screened in porch that held the night's trash before it was brought to the bin further away from the building. I spread my mind wide into the night air and found the three persons looking for the vampire. They were out front, waiting. He turned to me.

"I can smell them. You will go back inside now and I will manage them."

I broiled with offence. I had warned him of the impending issue and to be told that I would go back inside, no matter how rational it was, irritated me. So I opened my trap, of course.

"I am going nowhere. And just because you can _smell_ them doesn't mean you will see them coming."

"And how do you think you're going to help." He had been standing slightly turned away from me, but he moved a step into my space and faced me completely. _Well hello there broad and fit chest. Have we met before? No? Well maybe we can get to know each other!_ We were toe to toe and I imagined that they, vampires, were all fit and I decided I would not be swayed by his man-flesh. Then his eyes were drilling into my very skull, and I felt him reach with something. There was a tingle and my eyes opened wide meeting his gaze with fascination at the feeling of him as he slipped over my mind.

"You will go back inside and finish with your usual duties." There was a pregnant pause after during which I felt too stunned to speak.

This guy was nuts. He spoke to me as if I would do the things he was saying. When his eyes shifted back and forth searching my face, I realized he expected what he said to happen and not in the way where he was bracing himself for an argument. Just that I would turn around and walk back inside. I could feel a smirk twist on my lips, and I laughed right in his face.

"I have absolutely no intentions of leaving you until you are safe. You sat and watched me through my entire shift. Surely you must have a reasonable explanation of your interest, which I expect you to provide after the threat has been eliminated." I thought I was putting him off balance by my exacting tone. It was somewhat rude, but he had already been rude and was trying to get me to go inside when I knew I could be of help. And the way he went about it was plain strange.

The vampire reached for my shoulders and held them tight between his hands. I couldn't have moved if I wanted. His body froze and with a click I saw his fangs slink into position under his partially open mouth.

"What are you."

"I am Sookie Stackhouse and you will remove your hands." Just as I would have kicked him, he let go.


	2. Chapter 2

***Vampire***

This was problematic. She could not be glamoured into believing or doing anything. Her gift as he understood it was telepathy. Resisting glamour was not a part of that. If the Queen knew about this, it didn't seem like her to request that he collect her. Who wants a pet you can't control?

But she smelled like sunshine. If one could smell the heat of the sun bearing down, that was her scent. It hurt how close she felt to something a vampire could never have. Even Hadley, Sophie-Anne's pet did not have a scent nearly as complex and interesting as this one.

I was relieved but apprehensive to have confirmed her talent. I had been sharply observing her while keeping a neutral to lazily confident face so as not to startle her while she was working. The entire time I was watching her, she never left the bar but to grab food. I could see the kitchen from where I was seated; she never left the room. No one could have told her about the humans who were now waiting for me in the parking lot. Sophie-Anne had asked me to acquired a telepath, but I never expected to actually find one.

"I do not mean to be cruel, but you as a human are very weak. Once I am aware of a threat such as silver nets, I have the means to avoid it. But I assume they will kill you if you try and stop them. These people are what we refer to as V-addicts, or at least dealers of vampire blood. They drink it because it gives them an incredible high along with extra strength, better hearing and sharper vision. And when the comedown happens, they are as dangerous as meth or heroine addicts. They are not beyond murder. I am not entirely certain how you have any means of helping me, and further it is of benefit to you to not know what I will do to these people."

***Sookie***

I weighed what he said. He was right about not being an accessory or accomplice to murder. The ability to read thoughts offered nothing to the situation at this moment. _I am fragile, physically._ When he grabbed me, I knew instantly he could crush the bones in my body with ease. I knew Mack wouldn't care about murdering an innocent or not-so-innocent bystander. I'd always known that but never wanted to believe things like that about people. I let go of my determination to be a hero and sighed.

He proceeded to release his vice grip on my shoulders, but not without a slight caress on my arms. An odd feeling blossomed in the lower part of my stomach. _Look at you Sookie, charmed at the slightest of touches from a truly empty-headed man._

"May I call on you tonight or some other night?"

And just like that he had asked me out on a date, my first date ever. After a lifetime of disappointments I had to question his motives. For all his interest in my not dying, he did not seem interested in my person that I could see. Maybe he wasn't. It's entirely possible he wanted me for what skillset he thought I had. I realized I had made myself too conspicuous to a stranger who clearly had a higher mental acuity than the above average human. Stiffening, I quickly realized I should say yes and then say no if I felt like it later.

"Yes, evening of course. Where do you happen to live?"

"I have purchased and renovated the old Compton house. Pull out your phone and I will call my cell with it."

"Sure," Why was he living there? I was also surprised the vampire was acquainted with this cultural norm. "What's your name?"

"Bill Compton. My family was from this area." Makes sense now. He's coming home to roost. I'd be looking him up at the library's archives for sure.

"That makes sense. I guess I will call you after sunset sometime." Or sooner, so I did not have to talk to him directly. So maybe this was dangerous because he was a vampire and he had no business being interested in me. But I also was going to go on a date with a real live person who talked to me and didn't think at me! So yes, I had already agreed with myself to go out with Bill. _Don't blush. Don't you dare blush Sookie Stackhouse._

Bill did his best smile with his fangs retracted. He ended up looking smug to me and I wanted to smack or kiss that look right off.

"Good luck." I turned on a dime and walked back to the bar to grab my things. My mind was spinning with possibilities. A man-vamp who I could not hear. Even if the date didn't go well or things didn't work out, I could have a friend. It made me wonder if all vampires were like that.

My car was parked out in back so I wouldn't have to be involved in what was about to happen. Bill wasn't there when I looked out of the corner of my eye as I entered the porch.

Sam hovered in his office until coming out to take stock of the situation.

"Sook. You're ok? He didn't harm you right?"

"Sam I am fine. I'm big girl who can take care of herself." No malice was intended, but Sam recoiled like a kicked puppy. Inside my head I reminded myself that this was not my problem and his feelings for me had nothing to do with me, really. "But thank you for being concerned." I added, to try and smooth things over.

"No problem Sook. See you in a couple of days." I could tell he wanted to ask for an explanation. Instead he meandered back into his office, likely to ponder why I had stuck up for a vampire.

***Sookie***

I walked out the back to get into my car. Maybe it wasn't safe, but I could read minds so I figured I could handle it. Though I was being a little reckless by counting tips here in the back parking lot. It was out of rebellion against Bill's handling of the drainers that did not include me. He had also prompted internal conflict. I could stick with my life as it is where my telepathy aided my navigation but thwarted many potential destinations and appreciate my success as it stood or hope, yes hope, for a future where I could have some semblance of normalcy and not be the girl who could hear what was on everyone's mind. Yet… Not being the Sookie who could head off bad news at the pass made me feel a little strange and had me questioning my purpose. I am Sookie, and Sookie is a telepath; these two facts had never been separate from one another until Bill strolled on in and offered an opportunity to be Sookie without being a mind reader. Definitely something to mull over.

After waiting about ten minutes to count and think, I threw my car into gear and rolled out of the parking lot in back towards the front of the bar. No sign of Bill and the drainers. Then I caught sight of movement coming out of the woods. It was Bill and he was covered in blood. His teeth were red with it, fangs extended. He looked like a caricature of a feral human. And then he locked eyes with me and I finally realized that there was so much that I did not know about vampires beyond that I couldn't read their thoughts and that I was paralyzed by how dangerous he looked. No, was. Just as quickly as I saw him, he was gone. Not that he had walked back into the woods. He was gone.

I again sat in my car, this time at home. Turning the engine off, I began to think about the next steps that needed to be taken. Research and lots of it. Identifying where vampires congregated along with everything about them physically and culturally. The internet would likely have a lot about this. But I also knew that doing research in a setting where vampires were available to observe in person would add to my knowledge bank. Exploring vampire territory was not high on my list of things I wanted to do, nor was it the first thing I would do. But it was important to steel myself for a possible confrontation with other vampires, and most of all, Bill. And who knows, maybe I'd make some new friends. _Yup. You're planning on going to mingle with vamps Sookie. You're actually crazy, you know that right?_

I noticed Jason's truck. He was such a good brother, with his mind so uncluttered with anything but sex with women and a deep abiding love for his family. Which sounds bad, but it wasn't. Sometimes listening in on his reliving his escapades was gross, but he was the only man who never thought those things about me and also loved me with everything he had. Most people couldn't manage the kind of devotion Jason had for his family.

The light beaming through the windows of the house darkened with a shadow that had a hand raised to cover the glare coming down from the lights inside. Gran. I got out and bounded up to the house. I had my well-founded insecurities and shyness from people that made me particularly loving to those who I felt safe with. Gran was the center of my small world, with Jason and Tara orbiting around Gran.

Gran came out of the house with outstretched arms for a hug. I knew most families did not care to greet each other like this every day. Most people dwelled in some place of complacency regarding affection for those closest to them. It was probably listening to so many of their thoughts that convinced me to love who I loved with abandon.

"Did you have a good time at work tonight honey?" Gran was always genuinely interested. Her words coming from anyone else's mouth would sound like a simple courtesy. But she really cared, and there were only so many ways to ask someone how their day went, to be fair.

"There was a vampire. Someone in the bar was going to kill him, so I warned him and he took care of the issue. And he's going to call on me sometime this week." It felt good to say that I finally had a date.

"Well Sookie! You'll have to ask him… when he died. And do they really not age?" She was unsurprisingly accepting. Gran always had been open and excited about new things and I never took that for granted. I was proud of her and proud to be like her given that we shared this trait of open-mindedness.

"I don't know Gran. Oh and Gran, I can't _hear_ him. His mind! It's like a breath of fresh air." I briefly wondered if I'd ever be able to be honest with another person besides Gran, Jason and Tara about my reading minds.

"Oh that's so wonderful honey! Maybe you'll be able to settle down with a nice vampire!"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves Gran." But she had echoed my previous thoughts.

"You can't blame me Sookie! Does your vampire have a name?"

"His name is Bill Compton and he said he had been from the area. He's the first vampire I've ever seen, but he certainly isn't my vampire!"

"The Comptons! Well maybe he was alive during the war, oh honey wouldn't that be a treat! I'll have to meet him and maybe have him come speak at one of my meetings about his life, Let's talk about it over dinner. I made shepherd's pie and there's sweet tea in the fridge."

The conversation went round and round at the dinner table. Jason disagreed with everything related to Bill, Gran was positively enthused and I felt caught in the middle.

After the exhausting dinner I proceeded upstairs to start research. Research came easy to me, so what I was finding was incredibly suspicious and annoying. It seemed that vampires kept a tight fist on what content on vampires was posted. Yes, vampires were strong, fast and generally immortal. They'd come out with the production of True Blood which enabled vampires to safely enter the world of humans without constantly murdering them. They had Kings and/or Queens of each state with underlings divided by ranks. But what they did over the past thousands of years was not to be found. Not where they came from, who the progenitor was, anything about their culture beyond their ranks and titles. Dracula didn't really count.

Of course, nothing on the internet about Mr. Compton. With that I shut off my laptop, got ready for bed and fell into it readily. There would be something at the library though. The library kept archives because libraries just do and the family trees in the archives were valuable beyond their history. It was necessary to ensure you weren't marrying your second cousin twice over.

With the morning came immediate thoughts of the events of last night. My mind went into overdrive and like a broken record, I felt a fear of not knowing. Not hearing thoughts and thus not having control. And then a small thrill. Then back to fear. In retrospect, last night's events did not feel that exhilarating.

Gran was clinking dishes together down in the kitchen, lovingly preparing breakfast. Last night Jason had been interested in everything that had happened with Bill and was scolding himself about not being there to protect her. He was still there in the morning with a cup of coffee and his person sprawled on one of the chairs in the kitchen. "Mornin' Sook" he drawled. His accent was almost an exaggeration. I knew it wasn't, because damn if Jason wasn't a quintessential southern boy with a heart of gold and a mien of hot-to-trot. With the ladies of course.

"Hi Jason! I spent so much time talking last night I forgot to ask you about your day yesterday."

"Oh you know Sook. Same things as always. Laboring on the roads and whatnot. Still angling to get a job with the police department. I'm definitely fit enough for it." He said without any modesty, flexing his arm. _Oh Jason._ "Sookie!" He leaned forward and started in on last night's tirade, round two. "Don't you dare have that vampire over here! What about Gran? Hell, what about you? He could kill you and no one would ever find the body!"

"Jason, I love you, you're my brother. But I can handle myself, thank you very much."

"Well it's no use fightin' with ya. But you deserve an earful about it. Oh! Hey, did you hear they found Maudette Pickens body? Hoyt called me this morning about it. She was murder'd and that she had vamp bites on her. Another reason Sook, that you should not be dating a vampire!" He shook his finger at me like a scolding parent.

"Jason, I don't think all vampires would be the same. Humans aren't. And who knows if she was even killed by a vampire. I'm assumin' they don't know who did it." I saw in his head that he had been hooking up with Maudette recently and he was shaken by the fact that he had been so close to her murder. Inasmuch as Jason's thoughts strayed to negative things, that is. He felt terrible about Dawn and suspected a vampire was to blame for her death. He was also worried that the law enforcement would suspect him just because he'd been seeing her recently.

"That's all well and good until you have one on you draining you dry!"

"That's enough Jason! It could have been someone who didn't approve of who Maudette spent her time with, pray that's not so! Would you like eggs and bacon Sookie?" Gran turned around with a full pan of scrambled eggs.

"Yes Gran. And do you have toast?" Breakfast would be the death of me with Gran's endless supply of bacon, with bacon lard eggs. "You know Jason, there are good people and bad people. I imagine the same is true for vampires." Jason shook his head and held his peace for the rest of breakfast.

When I finished eating I stood up and announced my intentions to go to the library that day. I had the next day off and wanted to think about whether I wanted to see Bill or not.

The library revealed excellent factual detail on Mr. Compton's family ties. He was clearly made a vampire during the civil war and he even had a gravestone here and everything. His only family left were the Bellefleurs, not too far back in intermarriage by his daughter Anna. I wished it told the story of where he'd been after and who made him what he was. There was nothing more to know about him that I could find on my own. I would need some kind of help. Where that would be, no idea.

Digging out my phone, I prepared to leave Bill a message.

"Hi Bill, this is Sookie Stackhouse from the other night. You may come over at 10pm tonight if you have nothing planned. Let me know if that does not work for you and we can figure something out."

He was asleep, I knew. I liked that he couldn't answer and maybe try to cow me with his odd staring and deadpan instructions.

Building on the research I had already done about vampires and their past, I figured I should start with what they were doing now. In all of my online searching I found few openly vampire friendly establishments. Luckily, about twenty minutes away there was a bar that was ridiculously called "Fangtasia" and was operated by vampires. It was advertised as a place where humans got to mix with vampires safely. My plan was to go there promptly at 6pm and enter the bar when the sun went down. Even if I could not scrape a vampire's mind, it was a bar and club so there would be people there who would know more about vampires than I.

"Gran, I have asked Bill Compton to come over at 10pm. You are of course welcome to join us if you have not gone to bed at that point."

"Oh Sookie, this is your date! I can meet him next time. There's a meeting tonight. By the by, you must invite him in. He cannot enter the house without an invitation. If you should wish him to leave you must say you rescind his invitation and he will fly out of this house faster than you can say 'Goodbye'. Have a good time!"

"How did you even know that Gran?" I laughed.

"Lifetime movie with a vampire character! It was recent."

"Thanks Gran. I'm headed out to go meet some people who might know more about vampires."

"Be careful Sookie. I'm sure guy vampires are like human men, can't handle more than one." She tittered. "Don't you pick up a second date now!"

"I'll leave being a casanova to Jason. Bye Gran!" I left the house in good spirits.

I had picked my outfit none-to-carefully. Tan booties that went a bit above my ankle and a white summer dress with tasteful red flowers on it. I wouldn't be at the bar for long, so no need to impress anyone.

Fangtasia. It's garish lights were flashing red. A heavyset bouncer was at the door with crossed arms. The line of people looked desperate and excited, and also dressed like angsty teenage goths. Even the non-teenagers, which was a sight to see. Getting in line made me feel uncomfortable until I started processing thoughts of the people around me, starting with the bouncer. Now I felt like I had a purpose instead of just hanging around with these oddly dressed people.

 _Bet I'll get laid tonight. One of these fangbangers will settle for a plain old human if it gets her in the door sooner and for free._

Uninteresting. Next!

 _Oh my god I hope that vampire god will be there. The way he sits in his chair with that broody face I want to pull him off and rip off his clothes. Jesus, I want him to …_

No thanks!

 _I hope Pam is there bartending. I love Pam. I wish she'd look at me once and take me to her room. I would just die if she made me her pet. I'll settle for a look, a glance in my direction…_

Ok this was fairly useless. Everyone wanted to fuck, and thought of not much else. _If I wanted these kinds of thoughts, I could have just gone to Merlotte's._ Maybe going home was the best choice here. Yet I had no backup information besides what little I had collected in this line of people. When the doors opened to let people enter, I made up my mind to stay and brave the seething lustful masses of Fangtasia.

Upon entering, the decor screamed "slutty" and the woman standing by the bar with the best resting bitch face I had ever seen screamed "princess of all this slut-stuff". The dancers clung to their poles getting ready to start their routine. _Slut-ccessories. Can't leave home without them._

Resting-bitch-face raised an eyebrow at me, giving an even more withering look at my attire. If that was even possible. Clearly she was a vampire. I feigned disinterest and walked to an open table near the back. I did not want to see the vampire woman's face as I walked away.

When I sat down and looked at where the female vampire was, there was nothing. _So all vampires simply disappear when you look away. Great._ I was remembering Bill.

I received a text from him confirming our meeting tonight. Surprising that a vampire knew technology so well. Weren't they supposed to be old and stuffy at this point?

The club started to fill and the thoughts of everyone were still on fucking and being fed on by a vampire. At least these people were honest, all dressed up and panting for attention. Any vampire would do for these folks, but especially throne-man who I kept getting images of clipped from people's minds. If a person's thoughts were strong and focused enough I could see pictures and memories.

 _Eric, oh Eric._

I heard, over and over again in so many minds. Women and men alike. Eric was likely throne-man. Immediately I wished I did not know Eric's name, because it made it harder to remain impartial and do my research on vampire habits. Research required me being a fly on the wall with passive observance of my surroundings, not ogling up a vampire.

***Pam***

"What do you think that girl is looking for?"

"Maybe she wants to see you."

"Shut the fuck up and don't open your mouth to me other than to say 'yes ma'am' or 'no ma'am' and there better be a lot more yeses than nos. Do I make myself clear Ginger?"

"Yes Pam." The meth-skinny 30-something redhead slinked away.

I moved down to Eric's office at incredible speed. Normal for vampires.

"Eric."

"There's a girl out there in a sundress. She looks expectant. Did you invite dinner and not tell me?"

"No. And don't bring me word of little girls in sundresses in my bar unless they're holding stakes and silver. Thank you Pam."

My right eyebrow rose above my other, as it did on a great many occasions with very little prodding of annoyance. I had practiced this in a mirror, though I'd never admit that to anyone. It helped that I already looked perpetually annoyed or on the verge of it. It kept the humans at bay. Humans were… well, they were useful for some things. But not that much. _Vermin!_ I knew the girl upstairs had nothing to do with Eric, but I loved bothering him nonetheless.

Zooming back to the bar, I observed the gathering crowd of people in Fangtasia. They thought they were hungry, but they were only gazing into a reflection of a vampire's real hunger.

***Sookie***

I was trying to hold some kind of boundaries while gathering these stray thoughts.

 _No feeding on us in the bar… But I know he'll break the rules._

 _Maybe I can score with a fangbanger who can't get a vamp tonight. That one with the painted eyeliner looks easy._

 _I can't stay away from this place. I spend too much money here and I haven't even been bitten. I want it so bad. Why can't any vampire here see it. Maybe I need to come here even more, though I have to stop being late for work in the mornings after._

You'd think that their musings would have at least some kind of content to them. But no. Everyone here was a hot mess. It was 7:30pm already. I would give it another hour to glean anything useful and leave to get ready for Bill's visit.

The crowd's voices hushed all at once, while their minds shouted.

 _Here he comes. Eric. Oh my god. About time. Every time I see him I can't breathe. His blonde hair must look amazing when you're pulling it… I want to worship his…_

I did not need to hear the end of that. I almost laughed though, that someone had that effect on people. No one is that good looking. My brother Jason was the regular show pony of Bon Temp and I agreed he was objectively an attractive man. But personally I had never found anyone extremely attractive. Bill was probably the first in years who managed to pull at me, but even he wasn't a Jason in terms of sheer sex appeal. I watched the oncoming procession with a stillness of observance without judgement.

When "Eric" moved through the crowd, several things became apparent. He was absolutely in control of this entire room and knew it. He indeed was beautiful, sex on legs; a man out of a wilder time that would never flower in the world as it was today. And he was looking directly at me.


	3. Chapter 3

***Eric***

From the moment I opened the door to the bar I smelled something beyond the usual bodily fluids of Fangtasia. Lilacs, honey, and sun. The crowd parted where I walked and I made a slightly more outward loop in order to look for whose scent I had caught. _The sun dress._

She was looking at me with the tiniest trace of fear. Just enough to provide some patience and caution. Her face was carefully schooled to something that looked neutral or disinterested. But I knew better than to believe she was made of iron inside as well as out. I made sure I was the first to break eye contact. I knew the rules of power.

***Sookie***

While his gaze was only for a few seconds, I felt many hearts crack and gush out violent jealousies for me specifically. This place was absolutely pitiful and here that man was, sitting on a large chair on a raised platform observing me with a more smug smile than I ever imagined could cross another's face. Bill paled in comparison to this man's arrogance. Part of me had hoped to walk up to a vampire here and start asking questions, but I realized I would get nothing here in their own establishment. Even the young vampires walking around, who I could sense from the tiny black holes they embodied, looked deferentially at Eric. It was clear Eric was the gatekeeper and he did not look up for interrogation. There had been no coat check so I easily slipped away from my table to the front door.

Passing through the crowd to the front door I heard something out of place.

 _Just have to wait a couple more minutes and that girl will go into the bathroom with that vamp and start sucking. Then I'm calling in the troops. Hopefully the violation of a vampire feeding on a human in a public establishment will be enough to shut this horrible place down. These are our kids, getting strung out on V!_

 _Well then._ I still was leaving, given that I did not want to be a part of whatever was coming next. An undercover cop could not be good. It was already upsetting that I had no new information and I pressed away the disappointment I felt. I walked past the interior bouncer and turned the corner to run straight into Bill Compton. We both stared at one another, shocked. I recovered first by summoning my previous neutral expression.

"Bill."

"Sookie... May we step outside?" He gestured towards the outside door and I quickly walked past him with confidence that I had done nothing wrong and had nothing to apologize for.

"What are you doing here Sookie?! Do you know where you are and what this place is?" He looked madder than a hornet.

"Mr. Compton. Do remember that I saved your life, not the other way around and I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself." I barely knew Bill and this was the second time he'd tried to hinder me because he felt the situation too dangerous. Thing is, I already had a Sam in my life and I didn't need two.

And then right beside Bill stood the blonde vampire, Eric. _Great, now they appear suddenly when you are looking._

"Mr. Compton, to what do I owe the pleasure." Hostility radiated from Bill which Eric complemented with complete apathy that conveyed zero concern for how Bill felt.

"I am here on business."

"Yes, and as the Sheriff of Area 5 I am entitled to know when Queen Sophie-Anne's go-fetch-it-toy is here to make off with something. Also, she doesn't look like business." Eric gazed at me with lascivious intent.

Bill's face changed to pure rage, while Eric's grin got wider and he widened his stance to display his dominance over the situation. Bill's fangs peeked out, eyes dilated. They clearly had an abiding dislike for one another. I wonder how long they'd been in this back and forth with this pissing and dick measuring contest. Could be as long as they had been alive. I knew their current nastiness towards each other had nothing to do with me.

"If the Queen chose not to inform you Northman, that is not my problem."

"I'm sure she assumed you would inform me as is required by law." Eric smoothly rebutted.

Bill made the transition from irritated vampire, to full-blown-angry-vampire occurred in the space of 30 seconds. His expression looked eerily similar to the night when he took care of Mack. Eric looked like he was enjoying this, with his fangs splayed out in a toothsome grin. His blonde hair and his chiseled nordic features reminded me of what Vikings must have looked like in battle. Oh god, Eric could actually be a Viking. Like, a real Viking. It was time to make my exit.

"Just so ya'll know, there's an undercover cop in the bar who is about to bust a vampire feeding on an undercover agent in the bathroom. He's standing by the door looking conspicuous in his ill-fitting pleather pants, fishnet shirt with a potbelly and a beer. As for you Bill, I'll see you tonight." I turned and walked away from the both of them to my car and heard one set of fangs click back into place. Eric must have "disappeared". Once again, I didn't turn around. I felt that holding the upper hand was of the utmost importance to my surviving these encounters.

***Eric***

I was compelled to follow her, but I had to take care of what was about to happen in the bar. I could see Bill was feeling similarly, but he was obligated to stay and explain himself to me.

I was back into the bar and at the woman's bathroom door in less than a second. But not before I got a look at the man the girl had described. _Got him._ I could hear the woman begging to be taken from behind the hollow metal barrier. The stall ripped off from the wall with ease and revealed a faux fangbanger dressed in the usual garbage along with a practically newborn vamp carrying a stunned expression his face, fangs extended.

I didn't bother to tell him of his crime. Gripping his neck I dragged him down to my office, moving quickly enough that no one could see. The vamp's face was slammed hard onto his desk. Pam was right behind me.

"Shall I get the silver Eric."

"Please do."

She disappeared and came back with a gag and her gloved hands holding a silver chain.

"Now, Marshall. That's your name yes?"

"Yes! I'm so-"

His head held down with one hand I wrenched off his left arm. He'd regrow it, in time. But it was most assuredly painful. Marshall screamed and I chuckled that the office was sound proof, for a variety of reasons.

"Now my darling Pamela, if you would be so kind."

Pam loved to discipline the wayward vampires of Fangtasia. I let go of Marshall and Pam quickly looped the chain over his body. She viciously shoved the gag into his mouth.

"Master, what punishment do you have in mind?" Marshall was whimpering and burning under the silver.

"1 month in a coffin, silvered."

Marshall was trying to scream "no" under his gag. They all did.

Pam led him out and I once again made my way to the front door in little time. I appeared in front of the man causing him to drop his beer.

"Leave. Now."

"You can't kick me out, I didn't do anything!"

"I am the owner of this bar, and you will leave. And take your scumbag cops sitting out in the street with you. We comply with all laws in this bar and you have no right to stay if I have asked you to leave without a warrant. Do you have one?"

"No." The man looked down-trodden that his hopes for making a big bust were dashed on the concrete, along with his beer.

"Then get out." If the man had a tail, it would have been between his legs as he scampered out the front door.

With that taken care of, I ascended to my throne once again. It concerned me that Bill was here without letting me know and that it was Bill who would be with the girl in the sundress tonight. Keeping ahead of the political game may not have been an interest of mine, but I was good at it. My reputation as a violent and skilled killer of humans and vampires alike along with being a shrewd political navigator preceded me. It helped that I was 1,000 plus years old. Many feared I would take their monarchy out from under them, but none dared move against me unless it was justified by my making the first move. Then they would have the Council on their side as well as the support of other monarchies. It kept the relationship between the vampire's political hierarchy and myself in harmony that I did nothing to outright threaten anyone.

Bill had slipped back into the bar after the girl had driven away. It would have been disrespectful of him to leave without addressing our previous conversation. I curled my finger at him to come towards me. The sneer on his face from such a gesture was oh-so-satisfying.

"Perhaps I can be of use to you Mr. Compton. If you tell me what you are looking for, I would be happy to procure it for our Queen."

"If I were here to procure something, do you think I would let you take all the credit Eric? Absolutely not. I'd like to see you push me on my mission here, and watch Sophie-Anne punish you for your interference."

Eric did accept the threat as valid. Whether he felt he had to abide by the statement was another thing entirely.

"Very well Compton. You have my blessing to do in Area 5 whatever it is on god's green earth that our Queen may desire you to accomplish. You know I love her and am a loyal subject to our Queen."

I sounded as supportive as possible, but with a contempt that couldn't be relayed to Sophie-Anne effectively. Bill was still bound to his maker, and if his maker were summoned then Bill would be compelled to answer for Eric's loyalty. If I stepped out of line with my verbage, Bill would gleefully confess it to all around him.

"But tell me Mr. Compton. What is that girl's name and is she your business?"

Bill's face soured, but with a quick glimpse of concern and fear crossing his face.

"Sookie Stackhouse. I am interested in her for personal reasons, but I may acquire her for Sophie-Anne's court should she conform to pet standards."

"Thank you, Compton. You may go." I wouldn't be letting that happen, of course.

"Northman." Bill all but ran away from my humble dais.

***Sookie***

I pulled into my driveway and continued to walk with an ease I did not feel to my front door. Once inside the house, I trudged up the stairs. Being around familiar things caused me to lose my courage. I'd been holding up for the entire night, but now at home my emotions took a tailspin in the other direction. Tears started to stream down my face before I reached my bedroom. Crying in the shower was the best option for not being heard and ensuring my face didn't look horrible afterwards.

With the water was streaming down, I could not stop thinking about what I had gotten myself into. Two people, no, two vampires who I could not read had walked right into my life and expressed a moderate amount of interest in me. Their competitiveness in regards to one another was disturbing. Bill seemed to feel like I was his responsibility, which was weird. Eric seemed to covet what he saw, which was more honest but equally less exciting. My hope was that vampires were not as serious and intent as they looked and that individual humans were a passing phase for vampires. How could we not be when we weren't immortal as they were. I guess I was more afraid that they wanted to eat me than get to know me.

Apparently it was Bill's job to procure and Eric's to Sheriff. The latter was easy to understand; Eric was in charge of some vampires in an area. But 'procurement' sounded sinister. Bill I had met randomly at Merlotte's as far as I knew. He hadn't done anything wrong, even if he'd been odd with his staring and commanding my behavior. And telling me that I had no business being at Fangtasia, which was more about my not liking being told what to do.

 _Procurement. Obtaining something with effort and care. Or someone._

After being considered downright crazy by most of the town, it was a little hard to fathom that I would have anything to do with Bill's goals. While it was now obvious he wasn't just here for his house, that didn't mean it had anything to do with me.

It was 9pm now. I dried myself, started in on my moisturizing routine and thought of what outfit I would wear. No makeup. I hadn't used it since my teens. _Who would want to date me anyway. Crazy Sookie who said what was on everyone's mind._

God, what a pity party I was having. And all over some unsuccessful interactions with vampires, which was no different than my encounters with pretty much everyone else. This was my life, last I checked. And I did have some amount of control over how I felt about it.

***Bill***

I stood outside gazing into Sookie's window and returning from Fangtasia. I saw her wrapped in a towel with an expression of apprehension for something dreadful about to happen. She wasn't exactly wrong.

She was quite beautiful for a human. Imperfections were there, of course. She had a gap between the front of her teeth and a handful on either side sized chest. Her midsection was tight with perfectly muscled legs and bottom, and skin unblemished. She was blonde, with her own set of blue eyes.

The towel dropped and I would have sucked in air if I were a human. Instead I tensed, dropped my fangs and realized quickly that I needed to feed before entering her house.

***Sookie***

I pulled down my dress and stood in front of a full length mirror. It was time to check in with myself about everything. Find out why Bill is here. If it all seemed reasonable then I would maybe consider going on another date. Maybe.

9:45pm. I found my courage somewhere during getting ready and vowed to not be intimidated by a single vampire. My posture was impeccable as I walked down the stairs, making me feel confident and in control.

The doorbell rang. Of course he would be early. Reconfiguring my stoic face to my hostess smile, I opened the door. He stood there with flowers and a bottle of wine.

"Ms. Stackhouse."

"Mr. Compton."

He waited.

For a moment I reveled in my ownership of our interaction. I paused to be certain he knew that I was acutely aware of the rules and regulations. "Please come inside. The parlor?" I gestured in its direction.

"That will do perfectly." He stepped in the threshold and made his way to the parlor, following at a respectful distance.

I accepted Bill's gifts with a quick flush at having received the first flowers I've ever gotten from a romantic interest. I left the parlor to find an appropriate vase in the kitchen and set the bottle of wine on the counter to be used at a later time. With my desire to be appropriate, I sat in an armchair so he could not sit so close to me. I was about to address the events at Fantasia when I realized I had not offered Bill a thing to eat or drink. And I certainly wasn't offering myself.

"I apologize. I didn't get you any True Blood. Water? Anything?"

Bill smiled. "Sookie, it's all right. I ensured that I fed before I arrived."

"I want to apologize for the display of such poor behavior on my part in regards to Eric Northman. I was caught off guard by the situation at hand. I wanted to protect you, as he is known for unpredictable outbursts that have killed many a human."

"Is that so. Are you also prone to outbursts?" I remembered his face and thought it somewhat duplicitous that he insisted Eric was the bearer of tantrums and not he.

"Well, no. Vampires do not have to kill indiscriminately. There are humans who freely donate their blood to us and those who we pay for the service. No one has to die or be subject to cruel actions. We are not all killers Sookie."

"That's wonderful to hear Bill. But you didn't exactly answer my question." It was hard to keep the sarcasm out of my voice, but it stood to reason that if vampires were mainstreaming that someone, somewhere in their government thought that vampires could refrain from hurting people. Civility is the expectation, not the exception.

He sighed. "There have been actions I've taken that I am not particularly proud of. But somewhere along the way I found my humanity again. My descendants live here and I have returned to live at the home I had when I was a human, looking to reconnect with the rest of the world. Being a vampire has meant always hiding and never being able to stay anywhere for long. It has made many of us detached from humans, but it's becoming easier for all of us, including me."

I liked that answer. Humans did terrible things, and those who did were often loners who didn't know how to make personal connections with others, leaving their thought process vulnerable to strong judgements against others instead of thinking compassionately. It made sense that violence and vampires went hand in hand due to their inability to integrate with 99% of the world.

"That's really good to hear Bill, and it makes so much sense! I hope you like it here." I said warmly.

"I do as well." His smile almost reached his eyes, and I felt a tiny push of caution rise up.

"So I guess that means Eric was off base, and you're not here to get anything for a certain someone?"

Bill's face looked slightly piqued, but he brokered another explanation.

"Both are true. I work for the Queen to acquire vampires or humans for her. No one against their will. And I have the luxury of being on the path of self discovery."

"And who are you here for Bill?"

He paused, not for very long before he said the dreaded word: "You."

"And why is that." Things were going so well, and now they were spiraling. My voice was icy and the grimacing smile on my face was probably more uncomfortable for me than it was for him. Of course he knew. He knew about why everyone thought I was crazy.

"Your cousin… Is close with the Queen. She mentioned wanting to see you."

"Oh! Hadley?" Maybe this wasn't so bad, but the glimmer of hope died a quick death. Wait, yes it was. Hadley was an addict, and as much as she was a person underneath her disease, it didn't change who she was.

"She is the queen's favorite."

"Favorite what?"

"We call them pets, but it's not as bad as it sounds for Hadley. The queen cares very much for her."

"Does she care that Hadley has addictions to human drugs?" The pet title was unimportant.

"Hadley has been clean since having been found by the Queen."

"Well that's good. But I don't want to see her. She stole from Gran and never went to her mother's bedside as she died of cancer. If Hadley wants to see me, she can come find me and not send a _procurer_ for me."

"Hadley can't leave the Queen's side, Sookie."

"She could have called then." We were not in high school passing notes back and forth anymore. If Hadley wanted a relationship with us, she knew better than to send someone to bring it to her. At least I hoped she did. "And that's all of why you're here?"

"I am here because Hadley said something to the Queen about you and the Queen bade me to take you with me to visit."

"Not Jason, or Gran I guess."

"They were not mentioned, no. But perhaps she feels like reaching out to one family member to test the waters is better than reaching out to all of you at once."

"She did let Gran down, it's true." I sighed and slumped further into my chair. Bill was actually being polite and answering my questions, and I supposed he was being honest. The Hadley thing was a little fishy, but the explanations sounded reasonable. Hadley would be embarrassed to talk to Gran, Jason was not really a person you could trust to smooth ruffled feathers. No, if she wanted back in to this family it'd be through front-door-Sookie. But she could come here; no way I was going to New Orleans to be mistaken for a pet too.

"You know, you are the only human I've ever met who isn't afraid of us. Even Hadley is fearful and timid around vampires other than the Queen and her children." I knew he was trying to be personable and complimentary, but he was asking me to consider a lot right now.

"What's the point of being scared Bill? If ya'll wanted me dead, I'd be dead."

"Rational, but rational thought isn't common for the masses."

"Maybe I'm not rational. Maybe I should have never invited you in, or even saved your life. Seems like you aren't going away now. You live next door and you are supposed to bring me to my cousin and your boss." I raised my eyes to meet his and smiled at him darkly.

"There are vampires among you whether you care about our lives or not. And in my defense I'll say I appreciate what you did for me and if you wanted me to go away, I would. The Queen would send someone else, mind you. But I respect your position, even if it is strange to meet a human who wouldn't throw themselves at us given the opportunity."

He looked sincere with his melancholy eyes latched onto my face. Like he'd really regret not getting to know me, but that he'd let me live my life now if it was what I wanted. It would have been hard to believe what he said about a lack of fear in a human being a rarity if I hadn't been at Fangtasia. Underneath every thought in that bar was the perfume of fear. There was an undercurrent of a threat in his words about another vampire taking his place in an attempt to court me. A revolving door of forced company, with a Queen hoping that just one of her employees would manage to get what she wanted. _Fat chance. Vampires may have all the time in the world, but they've clearly never met me._

"That's fine Bill. You don't have to go. I have some more questions, if you're up for answering?"

"Let's trade. I'd like to know more about you." I felt jittery just hearing the last part of that sentence.

"Ok, I go first." I could appreciate how he was settling in, even if I was feeling out of my comfort zone. If his questions became inappropriate, I'd tell him.

"When you came in the door, why didn't you just put yourself on the couch as quickly as you could? I know you can move fast."

"It's uncomfortable for most humans. We are trying to mainstream and conforming to comforting standards around humans is a part of that."

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't hide your nature." He looked conflicted on the answer to that one. I'm sure there was super secret vampire stuff I wasn't supposed to know, but I was definitely curious.

"I will do my best. Now, what do you care about most in the world?" Oddly intimate question, but ok.

"Gran, family. That's pretty much all I care about."

"Not money, a career, your own house?"

"I have a house here just fine. A career requires an education and I certainty don't have the money for that. As for money, we do just fine with that we have. I'm happy." I paused before plunging into the next question. "Where do vampires come from?"

His eyes narrowed and he sat back. "The origin of our existence is kept secret from most of our kind, including me. If our progenitor were still alive out there, he or she would be the strongest among us. And given the creatures we have had to be, many would want to kill our ultimate maker to escape their superiority. He or she is probably dead."

"What kind of creatures are you that you'd kill… your mom...or dad?" I tensed. This was an answer I had been looking forward to.

"That's a third question, it's my turn for a second." He wagged his finger at me.

"Oh fine, ask away." I considered that second question to be part 2 of the first.

"What do you do in your spare time?"

"I'm asking about the history of vampires and you want to know what I do when I'm not working?"

"Yes." He looked charming, knowing full well he was being the romantic while I was being practical. It was hard to not consider flirting with him. Even if he wanted to scoop me up and take me to the Queen.

"I read a lot. Clean and cook with Gran. I love to sun bathe. So _now_ it's my turn! What are vampires like on the whole?"

He looked unhappy to be answering this one. After watching the display between Eric and him I wasn't surprised. "I asked for honesty, Bill. And you agreed to my terms."

"We're generally power hungry and vain creatures. We drink blood, that much you understand. Blood is everything to us, not only a food. Along with blood comes bloodlust, which devolves into sex and a general lack of control. Many vampires resist by practicing, or they are old enough to not feel inclined towards wanton violence. As I said, not all vampires are lacking in control. We can take without killing or having sex and we can choose to only take blood. It happens to be a pleasurable experience for all involved. "

"So getting bitten is pleasurable."

"Well, yes. But that counts as your next question so now I get two."

"But your answer to the second one was basically one word!"

"Two questions." He insisted mirthfully. "Will you consider coming back to New Orleans with me?"

"No. I mean, yes. I guess I have to. But I don't like it. But not as a pet, ever."

"Fair enough. So if not that, would you consider going on another date with me?"

"Maaayyybee." My hands flew up to my mouth and I could feel myself blushing. He was cute, not sexy hot like Eric. More like tall dark and handsome.

"Maybe?"

"Maybe." I confirmed and continued "I have a lot more questions about vampires, but it's getting close to my bed time. So I have just one last one before I let you go."

"Yes Sookie, of course. "

"Who is Eric and why does he seem like he's in charge of everything here?"

***Bill***

This entire conversation had been a careful dance of telling half-truths. While I recognized that she was looking for a place to put her trust, and I would likely break it, perhaps she would understand better when it was all said and done. She was coming with me to New Orleans within a week's time, regardless of her willingness. But willing would be nice.

Sookie would find it in her to enjoy the luxury of Sophie-Anne's court. And if she was everything that Hadley had said, her value would protect her. To be sure, it had not crossed my mind until I met her the first time that Hadley had been telling the truth. When I found the drainers out front just as Sookie had said, I was coming around to the Queen's thinking on the matter. Sookie the telepath. Fangtasia had sealed it as true when Sookie mentioned an imminent raid before she left, throwing it out there like it was something she had simply known.

In procurement, after the value of the merchandise was established, then came price. Sookie was unique in that the only things she needed were things she had. She had thought I was asking personal questions because I wanted to get to know her, when truly I was looking for her cost. Humans generally enjoyed sex, money companionship, traveling and generally the perks of being with a vampire. If she had wanted those things, she could have contracted herself to the human government long ago. As it stood, I could tell all she cared about was her family, but not Hadley. There would be very little to barter her cooperation with if I didn't establish a human-dating relationship with her.

Eric was the worst and most dangerous obstacle I could have attracted in my pursuit of Sookie. It was important to keep my future interaction with Eric at a minimum and prevent Sookie from going to Fangtasia ever again. As much as Sookie was a mission, and I'd generally been hiding that from her, I was coming to like her and would be unhappy to lose her to another vampire before I claimed her as mine.

"Eric is the Sheriff of this area. He manages all the vampires here under the Queen's ultimate authority."

"Will you tell him that someone, maybe a vampire or a person who hates vampires murdered a woman? I bet they'd like to know about that before it happens again. She had bite marks apparently."

That was surprising. She cared and she didn't want to see anyone hurt. Even vampires, apparently. Still, I realized that my time with her this night was growing short. I needed to excuse myself in order to not overstay my welcome.

"Sookie, I will let Eric know about this situation. If you will excuse me, I will take my leave of you and you can decide when and if you wish to see me again." I hoped the draw and uniqueness of being a vampire would encourage her come to me. As long as Eric stayed out of this.

"Yes, I think it's time. I will walk you to the door Mr. Compton."

"Until next time Ms. Stackhouse." I conformed to her request to be myself, in this case at least, and upon stepping out I made it to my house in a matter of 10 seconds. I could hear her gasp in my wake.

***Eric***

"I didn't expect to hear from you so soon Compton."

"Eric, Sookie told me there was a murder and that the woman had vampire bites on her body."

I was listening now.

"Any information besides this?"

"Not that I know of."

"Thank you for bringing this to my attention." I reached for my phone and called the local police station in Bon Temp.

***Sookie**

Jason ran into the house while Gran and I were having breakfast.

"Sook! Did that vampire hurt you? What did he fuckin' do to you, I swear I will stake that vamper myself. I won't see you become a Maudette Pickens."

"Jason Stackhouse, do I look injured to you? You know, who I choose to spend my time with and how I spend it is none of your business." Jason attempted to interrupt. "Jason. I am serious. Mr. Compton was a gentleman. And as you can see, I am not dead, nor bitten."

"Well maybe he just bit you where I can't see…"

"Knock it off Jason! He didn't bite me. Don't make me tell you about how many sexcapades I know you have had and when you had them. Or the thoughts about me that all your friends think when they come over."

"My friends Sook? They think of you that way? Tell me who they fuckin' are right now, Sook. No one thinks about you like that." Jason was all bluster, but he meant well. I was his baby sister.

"I need you to calm down and recognize that I am an adult and I know what I am doing."

"Ok Sook." He was unconvinced.

I remembered my short but happy conversation with Gran.

" _Oh my darling, did you have a good time?" Gran sounded comforting and happy._

" _I did. He answered many of my questions about vampires, though I did forget to ask him about the war."_

" _So glad to hear it Sookie. The war can wait!" Gran was squeezing her tight. "Now it's lunch time if you're hungry."_

I was debating on when to call Bill again. I had work today at Merlotte's, so there was time to think about it. For the rest of the day I did laundry, cleaned the house with Gran and talked with her about my need to make a decision on Bill staying in my life.

"I don't know what he _wants_ though, Gran!"

"Honey, I know you've never so much as kissed a boy. I remember when you tried dating and came home stompin' off to your room. If you can't hear them, it's worth it to give it a shot and see if being with a vampire will work for you. I want you to be happy."

"I'm not sure they're even slightly human." It had just occurred to me that maybe vampires didn't have feelings at all, just preferences.

"Are you lookin' for reasons to not see this man? Because you'll find 'em dear."

"Maybe." I was silent. That's why I chatted with Gran about these things. Gran had her opinions, but often she only asked pointed questions and made thoughtful statements rather than seeming like she wanted things a certain way.

"They're different, and a relationship with them will be different. That don't mean it's a bad thing." She was soft now. My Gran was a saintly person, filled with love. My rock. My home was here with her. If Bill was going to court me, I would give it a shot. Gran had my back if things fell apart. I knew that.

"Thanks Gran. I needed to hear that."

Gran chuckled, and I finished sweeping the kitchen as she washed the dishes.

***Sookie***

"Hey Sam! Arlene," I nodded to the petite-and-sweet redhead. "Dawn, hey! Lafayette, how are ya?"

"Oh you know hookah, just doing me."

"Lafayette, you watch your mouth!" Arlene had two kids and sometimes she forgot that we weren't her babies.

"I certainly hope you don't watch my mouth for me, especially later tonight…"

"Lafayette! I did not need to hear that!" We laughed as Arlene threw her hands up in the air and walked away in mock offense. Lafayette was flaming, and Arlene was a little uncomfortable with different people. But that's just how she was. Arlene was on her third soon-to-be husband. Rene Lenier was all right. No, he wasn't bad. It was just Arlene was like… Arlene. With all her men. _She dives right in there without looking. Converts herself to their lifestyle as long as they're around and picks up a new one when the next guy comes along. I don't know she makes it out alive._

Dawn was another creature entirely. She was on again off again with Jason, and when she was mad at Jason she wasn't very nice to me. Seemed like they were off since Dawn was ignoring me pointedly.

"Sookie.. You saw Bill last night?" I was leaning against the bar and Sam came up behind me silently.

"Yes." I said hesitantly. _How did he know?_

"I smell him on you." He answers my unasked question. "Be careful Sook, please? I couldn't bear it if anything happened to you." It was the closest he ever had gotten to a declaration of love. It was easy to forget Sam was a shifter too and had the olfactory senses of… whatever he shifted into. _Oh Sam, I just don't want you that way._

The night progressed with ease as Lafayette slung out food at a consistent pace while our customers did what they did best, get inebriated.

When Jason strode in through the door, it was about 11pm. From the looks of him, he had pre-gamed elsewhere and was coming here looking for trouble.

 _And trouble your name is Dawn Green._ I shook my head. Someday, some woman was going to seriously injure Jason. Or tie him down and marry him. Or both. Dawn lit up and then went dark with indignation when she saw Jason. She flicked her hair and walked away from him as he was looking to speak with her.

"Dawn! Hey!"

"Can't you see I have things to do besides you Jason?" I wasn't sure anyone in Bon Temp didn't know about Jason and his many affairs, particularly Dawn. Dawn was mouthy and it wasn't like this was a classy establishment, as suggested by the rumbling laughs of the men and some of the women in the bar at Dawn's response. _Maybe they should make a reality show on Jason. Not that he could use the affirmation of his ego._

"Oh hey don't be that way Dawn. I'm sorry for what I said 'bout you! I didn't mean it, I swear."

Dawn had the grace to at least walk back to Jason before giving him her response. Not that everyone wasn't already listening.

"And you sure you ain't saying that to get back into my pants? Because I sure as hell don't believe you." I watched as she puffed out her chest, leaned on one of her legs with her hip jutting out while lazily rested her hand on it.

"Dawn let me make it up to you. We'll go to a nice dinner. I'll get'cha some flowers."

"Jason, I don't want your flowers. Or a dinner. I'll decide what I want. So why don't you wait around here and let me think about it."

Dawn's thoughts were triumphant. She had Jason waiting on tenterhooks for _her_ desires. As for Jason, I knew he was single minded in achieving his mission and while he was always sincere in the moment, he forgot all about it when he was done. This created the vicious cycle of Jason jumping from one bed to another. And after each bed jump he'd say 'What?!' to the previous lay when he got smacked or otherwise chastised. _Incorrigible._

***Eric***

I had information gathered from my day people regarding the murder of a one Maudette Pickens. The police were quite disinterested in my help, though I had said I was responsible for all vampires in the area and if it were found that one had murdered a human that he or she would be imprisoned and likely face "the death penalty", as humans liked to refer to it. The last pieces I had been waiting on were coming in shortly. My day people had confirmed the name, time of death, and circumstances surrounding it and suspects. When Longshadow, the vampire I had entrusted to carry out this task, came back with a copy of the autopsy, crime scene information, and any samples taken from the body, I would act.

Even if the killer was a human, it was irrelevant. Many other Sheriffs would disagree with my thoughts on this, but I realized that our position as being out in the open was more tentative than secure. Not only did vampires have to play by the human's rules, but we had to do better and preemptively defend ourselves from accusations regardless of who committed the crime. Offering help was the olive branch needed to bridge the gap.

"What did you find?"

"A few things. Here is a sample of the semen found inside her. Definitely human. Do you wish me to track him?"

"Yes. And when you do find him, call me. That will be all."

Longshadow nodded and blinked out of my office.

I didn't have to wait long. There had been some paperwork to do regarding the bar and the area that I was finishing up as my phone rang.

"You've found him? Only one correct? I will be there shortly."

***Eric***

Longshadow was listening cautiously outside of a trailer that had lights and a tv blaring. When I approached, I could hear what the other vampire was hearing. A human male was muttering to himself. It would have been almost unintelligible to humans but I made out what he was saying.

"Trash. Garbage fangbanging women. Not women. Dead-walking whores. They like death so much, they can join." It went on like that for a while.

"Thank you Longshadow. You may go." When I knocked on the door, the man whipped it open angrily. His eyes met mine and his face turned slack.

"Let me in."

"Yes. Come in."

"You murdered Maudette Pickens. Who else?"

"Yes. My sister too. She left her boyfriend for a blood-sucking-."

"What did you use to kill them?"

"Strangled Maudette. Sister too. Burned the house."

"Did you have sex with them?"

"Yes. Before and after."

"Is there any record of this?"

"I made videos." Delightful.

"Name?"

"Rene Lenier, but my real name is Drew Marshall."

"Ok Drew. You're going to gather up your videos and murder implements. Take these with you when you drive yourself down to the police station and tell them everything about your crimes. All of it. When you get into your cell, you will kill yourself using any method possible. Understood?"

"Yeah."

"You will know you saw me, but you will not be able to tell anyone." To me, it was important for him to go to his end knowing that someone knew his sins. Killing for poor reasons or none at all was a waste. Even when we weren't out, I made a habit of not eliminating life unnecessarily, only ruthlessly when it was needed.

"Okay."

"Good bye Rene." I said softly.


	4. Chapter 4

***Sookie***

It was almost closing time. Jane Bodehouse had her left arm laying straight out across and over the bar with her head unceremoniously draped on it. _And I just bet there's a little pile of drool that has enough alcohol in it to make a grown man tipsy._ Time to call her son. I thought he enabled her; if he didn't pick her up, she'd have to walk home and then maybe she wouldn't drink herself into a stupor. But every night like clockwork we either called him when she passed out or he showed up at bar time.

"Jeez what? It's 2am and my phones ringing." Arelene fiddled with her apron to pull out her little flip phone. "This is Arlene?"

Who was calling Arlene at 2am? I shouldn't snoop but…

 _The police? Why? What? Rene in custody… For murderin' Maudette? Rene would never; they got the wrong man. What kind of evidence could they even have that… Murder weapon… Videos?! He… No. It can't be. It just can't._

"I'll be there in 20 minutes." Arlene looked shaken but not so much as she would have been judging by her thoughts. I was stunned. Rene had murdered someone? His mind always seemed to be focused on Arlene and the kids. Shows me how much I know.

"Hey Arlene, you all right?"

"Yeah, honey. Yeah. My sister's son is sick and I need to pick some things up from walmart for them…" I nodded.

"I'm sorry Arlene. I hope he feels better. I can finish your section and roll your silverware for you."

"You'd do that for me Sookie? Oh thank you!" Arlene was starting to cry. Her world was crashing down around her and she couldn't tell anyone that her fiancee was a murderer. If my boyfriend turned out to be a murderer I'd think twice too.

"Yeah, go do what you gotta do. Take care of your family." It was hard to walk the line between comforting a person for what they said or for what they were actually feeling. The sentiment was there; Rene may be going to jail for a long time, but Arlene had thought of him as family.

 _Rene. I never, ever would have guessed._

***Sookie***

It was 3am by the time I finished with work. It was a Friday, and a good night. I made about $150, which was a lot for a place like Merlotte's where many people tipped you a quarter a drink.

Gran was asleep, as she should be. When I first got my job she tried to stay up to greet me every night. We sat down and had a talk about it where I insisted that she needed to go to sleep at a normal time. She didn't like that.

" _But how will I get up if you're not in the kitchen making breakfast. I'll have no reason to get out of bed."_

" _Ok, Ok Sookie! I agree to go to sleep as normal. But be safe. And I get to look in on you when I wake up."_

" _Deal."_

The flood light was on and there were a host of bugs swarming around it. We swept the porch clean of the tiny bodies of the foolhardy creatures every morning.

"Sookie?"

I shrieked and slapped my hand on my chest in exasperation when I saw who had said my name.

"Bill! You know better than to sneak up on a lady like that! And in the dark like this?" _Ok, I realize that vampires are only up at night, but that's not my problem._ "And anyway, wasn't I supposed to call on you and not the other way around?"

"I'm sorry to disturb you Sookie. I wanted to let you know that the murderer of the woman Maudette has been detained. It seems he had an abiding hatred of women who were with vampires. I feel horrendous that I endangered you by involving myself in your life. Even if I was unaware of the murderer's purpose previously."

"I know Bill. It's ok."

"You do? How?"

"His name is Rene Lenier and he is… was… dating one of the waitresses where I work. She hasn't accepted it to be true yet. But she's devastated of course."

"Oh." He looked intently at me for a moment.

"How'd they catch him Bill? Do you know?"

"He walked into the station and confessed. He had video… items he used to kill these women…"

"I wonder why he would do that."

"Yes, it is a mystery."

"What's not a mystery is that you should not be out here at 3am waiting for me when I get home. I nearly died of a heart attack!"

"I never meant to cause you concern."

"Well you gotta try harder then to think about what a human wants if you intend to date me. I'm not a vampire. That news could have waited until tomorrow night. It's not like they found him and he went on the run. He's rotting in a jail cell right now."

"Yes, it seems you are correct in that I've forgotten how to be courteous. How can I make this up to you Sookie?" Again with the flirtation on his part.

"Ice cream." I said cheekily. "But some other time. Good night Bill!" The door latched behind me and I made it up to my room before passing out on top of my covers.

***Sookie***

Morning was uneventful but for the sad silence of Gran and I over Arlene's predicament. We talked about it while Gran fielded calls from other matrons of the town about the same thing. I went for a drive. Not to anywhere specific. I needed time to think about everything and I couldn't do that with Gran and Jason hovering around me. Not that Gran irritated me, but I needed to be alone. Bill was courting me, and I wasn't sure if I was ready for a relationship. Rene had been friends with Jason for some time now, and I didn't know how to be there for Jason as he found out his friend was a serial killer. And then there was me. I'd been around Rene enough to have read his thoughts, but I never noticed this. Maybe Maudette wouldn't have died if I'd been more careful. I had a lot of guilt.

I knew where I was. I didn't go off driving in the middle of nowhere. After listening to some music as loud as it could go in my car for a few hours, I needed some gas. A gas station wasn't more than 5 miles off and I arrived at the station, stepping out to pump my own gas and scan the parking lot.

 _...Gotta fix up that woman's car…_

 _Well ain't that a fine piece of ass._

I shielded my mind immediately and turned away from the man who had that thought. A family in a van pulled up and from the looks of it, the parents were exhausted and the children were too. The baby screamed, the toddler screamed back, the oldest was yelling that he hated his parents. Oh dear.

"Hey, ya'll need help? I'm really good with kids and you look like you could use a quick break." The parents just looked at me for a second, before the mother was able to open her mouth in desperation.

"You're too kind… But it would be too much."

"Oh no, not at all. I'd love to help."

That broke the dam.

"Thank you… thank you so very much."

I meandered over to the children who stopped crying immediately when a new person approached. The eldest boy crossed his arms and refused to look at me. The toddler smiled with a tear-streaked, snot nosed face. And the little one stopped crying when the toddler stopped.

"Let's get you cleaned up, ok honey?" I picked up the toddler and started swaying with him while he giggled. That always made wiping faces easier. "Now what's there to be upset about, huh?"

While the parents were in the store getting much needed space away from their children, I managed to unravel the children's anger into smiles and relaxation. Even the baby was giggling. I loved kids, and I did want them though it seemed a far away dream. Their minds were so simple and not yet prone to cruelty. The parents returned with arms loaded. Soft-drinks, chips, ice cream. They were doing the best they could to find anything to calm their children. Surprise crossed their faces as their children were no longer out of control and looked content.

"Oh my god. Thank you. We're visiting my family and we've been driving for 8 hours and, and.." She burst into tears.

"It's all right. You guys have done well for 8 hours! My nieces and nephews would have jumped out the window by now!"

After some more pleasantries were exchanged, I turned back to my car. Both men who were there previously were gone.

Back on the road, I made it halfway to work before my car started sputtering angrily. "Good thing we have cell phones." There was a mechanic nearby. I knew him because he came into Merlotte's often. Gave me his number and said "if you ever need anything hon, you come to my garage and I will make sure you're taken care of." He said this with the sincerity of a father, because he knew I had none. I couldn't trust many people, but he was a kind soul.

"Jerald? Yeah, it's Sookie Stackhouse from Merlotte's. It's good to hear you too. Yeah, unfortunately my car broke down on Hwy 9 right before County J coming from Bienville. Yeah, I was just driving around to cool off from a long weekend. Ok, see you in 45 minutes? Great, thank you so much Jerald, this means the world to me."

"Sam? Yeah, my car broke down. I'll try to make it in to work as soon as I can. I'm sorry I'm short staffing you like this."

It was almost sundown. Now all I had were my thoughts. They were filled with what to do about Bill with a random dash of Eric's mocking, leering smile. Who knows why he was in my thoughts.

Night fell and I waited by the side of my car. The headlights up the road brought relief. I didn't have to sit out here and be bit by any more mosquitos. I realized it was a car, and not a tow truck. Maybe Jerald had sent someone to come pick me up. The car moved closer quickly and I saw that it must be going 60 or 70 miles an hour. I moved to the other side of my car for safety's sake. The car on the road turned a bit towards me, and it occurred uselessly to me that it was coming at me, at my car. It was too late to move.

My legs failed me. I could feel them, but they wouldn't respond. My car had been pushed slightly at me, and then forward with impact. The movement whipped me around, but not before the crunch of my legs hitting the side of the car as it moved told me that I could not walk. There was no crying to be done.

Jerald would be here soon, I told myself as everything went black.

 _Drink Sookie. Drink my darling. Drink._ It was so sweet in my mouth and I swallowed deeply.

"Sookie, that's enough." It was pulled away from me. I heard myself mewl with need. My eyes met Bill's.

"You've been hit by a car. Your legs were completely broken. I...I did what I had to do. Please listen to me. I gave you my blood. It will heal your body for the most part, but we'll need to do another round later."

"How did you know Bill?" I whispered.

"I looked in on you when I rose. When you weren't at your house I had this thought, to listen to the police scanner. Then I heard that someone had reported a busted up car on the road. I just… I just thought I had to check. I found you about 7 minutes after it happened. Enough time to seal your femoral artery and heal you. It was so close Sookie."

"Bill. Thank you." I saw his eyes turn pink, and then redden to spill tears of blood down his face. Maybe he did like me, like he was indicating.

"Please come home with me, to rest. I can make sure you heal well. Please Sookie." The sound of his voice and the comfort it promised was enough. I didn't want Gran to see me like this.

"Take me."


	5. Chapter 5

***Eric***

I sat in my office thinking about Bill's objective. What something was Bill looking for?

In the meantime, the girl in the sun dress haunted me. I heard her name from Bill's lips. Sookie Stackhouse. She had warned me about the raid at the bar, presumably without any interaction with my patrons. That would be something that needed investigation.

While I had gotten just about everything I wanted in life, including women, I had always truly wanted so little. The women came to me as a matter of course without their identities being important. Vampire or no. Patience was a muscle I needed to flex once again. This human required the same dedication he devoted to his business affairs in order to capture her. _Time to take her away from Compton._

My experience with Bill was tainted by the fact that I met Bill after he was first made. Pam had already been inducted into what it meant to be a vampire and was testing the waters on her own, though I had not released her. I was touring through whore houses in California, 1862. The gold rush had passed through and left men paupers and women desperate. Spending any amount of money in a house of ill repute drew a bevy of women to me. This worked out excellently, since humans dying from a vampire's overfeeding tended to arouse suspicion. Having multiple donors was a safe way to live.

While not the Sheriff of this area, I was an old vampire compared to many others of my kind and under the blessing of the current Sheriff I was able to wander in peace with other vampires. I rotated between a few whorehouses, never glamouring too much and generally keeping a low profile. The act of clouding or removing memories in humans was to be avoided because not many vampires were deft at keeping a human's psyche intact and keeping the new memory's narrative coherent. Experience had taught me that while humans did not want to believe superstitions were true, when presented with an embodiment of them they would mob and attack.

In some ways this small city I was in was under my protection, or at least my small territory carved out within the vampire Authority. The Sheriff was a forward thinker. He spoke carefully and softly, but was known to punish instantaneously with extreme violence those who did fail him. Short-lived Sheriffs were indiscriminate with their violence leading to agitated underlings who would constantly plan mutiny. This Sheriff kept other vampires oscillating between respect and fear, just as I would in his position. He recognized my offer for what it was, noting that he himself had periods of wandering and generally ruminating on life, or the lack of it. The Sheriff made it clear however, that I would be watched and expected to report to him or otherwise check in when needed.

I entered into an establishment called "the dirty blonde". Whores leaned on the fences with their breasts hanging loose in their shirts, calling men to come lay with them. This particular brothel had divided clientele. The porch dwelling women were for the masses and on the second floor of the building was a generally lavish area for the gentleman of the town. The entrance to this was on the back of the building, so as not to be seen by the general populace.

The "mother" of the brothel greeted me with a hug and a respectful kiss on my cheek. I had found it prudent to always form relationships with particular humans who would have some kind of loyalty to me. These relationships were one sided, in that I would never choose their lives over a vampire and generally they were only means to an end.

"Eric." There was something wrong. She clung to arms of my jacket and begged with her eyes.

"Bethany and Elizabeth are dead. I don't… there was blood everywhere, but there were no wounds. And they looked happy Eric. Their dead bodies were smiling."

The scent of vampire cascaded down the stairs. They were here even now.

"Step aside Violet." She quaked and held herself. I knew whores could handle all kinds of men, but indiscriminate killers were not on the list.. Sure, some men liked to snuff a woman they were fucking. The only real issue here was that this vampire was not paying for the privilege of destroying Violet's income. And also that he or she was in my small piece of what I called home.

Two scents. Female and male. They were so enraptured with what they were doing, they didn't smell or hear me approach. I was very quiet and was able to mask my scent and thus how other vampires perceived my age. Generally I could lure young vampires into thinking I was also new. That was a fun game, tearing them apart for their mistake and being utterly justified amongst vampires for doing so. Especially because it was a trick, a besting of another vampire through any means necessary.

"Suck me dry. I want you to eat me whole, please" I could hear the glamour in the woman's voice.

"Well Bill, you heard the lady." Lorena. I had heard she had made a progeny. This was apparently him.

I had my hand wrapped around Lorena's throat and shoved her up onto the wall in .5 seconds. She gasped and pulled at me. Lorena's child, Bill, was stunned but then launched himself at me. Lorena shrieked. "No! Bill, as your maker I command you to stand down. Now."

Bill's face darkened with possessiveness, shameful of his inability to help Lorena, whom he clearly thought he loved.

"Lorena. You will leave this area. You will take your foolish way of flirting with exposure of vampires with you. Along with your useless puppy dog of a child." Her eyes burned with rage. I opened my hand away from her neck.

"And by what authorization, Mr. Northman. You are not the Sheriff."

"Do you want me to call on him and let him know you have been feeding on well-paid whores who will be sorely missed by others in the vampire community and those humans who are wealthy enough to make a fuss about their dead mistresses? Please. It would be a pleasure."

She knew she'd been beat. Lorena contained some of the worst traits of a vampire. Violence without discipline or purpose other than to feed greedily. No respect for any vampire other than one who held her life in his or her hands, and only in that fleeting moment of death or no death. I believed she escaped the true death many times because she reminded other vampires of what they thought they ought to be if they didn't have the chains of humanity holding them down. Chaotic, unpredictable, insatiable and proud. Lorena was trying to buck reality that humans had to be worked over and with to maintain peace. In Lorena's mind, humans were disposable and should be treated as such. In mine humans were disposable but it served a purpose to not treat them as such.

Bill was positively frothing at the mouth to help Lorena. I slowly turned around, forcing Lorena to realize that I did not even fear her staking me, she was so lowly. She may be older, but weakness and strength were not entirely dictated by age.

"You will heal that woman now. With your blood. And you will leave her and this Area in peace."

"Who are you-"

"Shut up Bill!" Lorena shrieked again.

"Well, Lorena," I turned to her, "it seems you have not taught your progeny about the laws that rule our kind. A grievous error on your part, but only a mistake I am sure." I purred at her, knowing that I could take her to justice right now and she would lose her child for her insolence.

"Bill, heal that woman, and then we are leaving." Bill balked, still stuck in the frenzy of what he had been doing but a minute ago. No self control, but not to be expected in young vampires anyway.

"As your maker I command you." She whispered. Bill bent at the waist and tore open his wrist to feed the woman. She moaned and then clamped down on his arm. Bill's eyes were locked with Lorena's, waiting to be told when he should stop.

"Now my darling, pull away." He did so and stood facing Eric. Now Bill realized he was being chastised. That he had done something wrong and was escaping punishment through my "generosity". I liked others owing me favors.

"We will leave now. " Making good, they were gone in less than a second. I slowly descended the stairs.

"Violet." She was sobbing into her hands, with frightened women cowering around her. "It's over Violet, you and your girls are safe."

"Oh Eric!"

"I must take my leave of you now Violet, but know that you will be safe in the future."

The Sheriff listened carefully to all that I said. It was clear that I had done what was necessary, but by technicality had overstepped the bounds by meting out punishment to Lorena. That was not my right or duty.

I apologized and said that I would leave immediately with my head hung low for my mistake. What I did not say, is whether I cared about making the mistake or regretted it. The Sheriff clearly assumed not, but was content with me being perceived as a chastised child being sent away to solidify his power by being able to command an older vampire to leave.

"Yes, your leaving is best Eric."

Bill. Impulsive with a streak of utter disrespect and resentment for me. Bill was in the right to hate me for how I had embarrassed him.

It had to be the girl that he wanted. Even though he made it sound as if this was not the case, it was smart to pretend he was only possessive of a feed and fuck, and not his mission. Yes, it must be Sookie he wanted. I had thought that with mainstreaming no vampire would be stupid enough to steal humans away anymore. Apparently not.

The door opened and Pam walked in dragging a young vampire.

"Eric, this idiot performed a task for Mr. Bill Compton and failed to run it by you." Pam was gleeful.

She knew that I was competing against Bill.

"I am all ears Pam." I slowly rotated his chair to face the crying vampire. "And what exactly, did Mr. Compton tell you to do."

The vampire started blubbering, blood tears streaking his face. "He said, drive on this road… and.." with a choking voice, "and there would be a broken down car there with a girl. A blonde one! And he said to hit the side of her car. Not to kill her, but injure her. I swear I didn't know it was important!"

My hand moved into the young vampire's chest cavity wrenching out his heart. It pulled loose and squeezed it to dust, with the other vampire flaking away with it.

"The floor is filthy now." Pam wrinkled her nose.

"Then call Ginger, Pam. I must leave."

I stepped out of Fangtasia and flew into the night towards Bon Temp.

The door shattered with part of it still left on the hinges.

"Compton!"

I tore through Bill's well decorated house, indiscriminately destroying what was there. Bill was still human enough to put attachment on things, and I knew it would make him feel violated and angry. And then Bill was there, fangs extended.

"Sookie, Bill. You will give her to me now."

Silence. "I can smell her. She's in your bed, your room. Healing from the injuries you caused her, in order to get your blood into her. Did you think you were going to take what it was you were ordered to obtain right from under my nose Bill? Tell me, has that worked out before?"

Bill lunged and I grabbed his neck and slammed him down to the ground. Bill was clawing at me, performing an amazing impression of his maker.

"I'm taking her Bill. And I am telling her what you have done to her and why. That she will be under my protection until I explain to her why she will need to be bonded to me. The mistake you made Bill, was lying to her and to me. If the Queen were not expecting you back like the lapdog that you are, you would be dead Bill. I hope she finds you as disappointing as I already do when you return empty handed."

***Bill****

I did not attempt to follow Eric up the stairs. I was cut to the quick, my mistakes adding up in my thoughts. Hiring the young vamp, having Sookie injured badly and not even attempting some kind of ruse for Eric. I had presumed I was protected by Queen Sophie, insulated from what Eric Northman could do.

And then there was Sookie. After all I had done to her, holding her in my arms while she was so fragile caused me emotional pain. Something I had not felt in years. She was a true innocent that I had violated in the cruelest manner by forcing my blood into her. She looked into my eyes with trust and in my crisis of conscience, I realized that I thought being a vampire meant that I should pursue cruelty in order to live up to standards. Instead of waiting longer to have her come to court, I pushed the issue with pain, as I had been taught. But I couldn't do it any longer. It was truly not in my nature to do as much harm as I had done in this life. I bitterly regretted my tutelage under Lorena.

My maker ruined me, and I had participated instead of meeting the true death honorably. All that I was, she stripped and replaced with a monstrous character. Even when her influence was gone, I stayed in the mindset she left me with. That was my choice. I felt the agony that my life was not my own, and how Sookie had been strong in holding her own while I visited with her. Stronger than I had ever been. And now Eric would tell her what I had done. She would never forgive me and I concluded that I couldn't forgive myself either.

***Eric***

I caught her as she was trying to stand up from the bed. It must have been painful; her legs were blue, black, yellow and red in various states of healing. She was in shock, that was clear enough.

"Leave me alone," she said huskily as she fell to the floor. Almost. I had her in my arms. She vomited and it was all blood. It pleased me that she was physically rejecting Bill. I sat her on the edge of the bed while I knelt between her legs. She was petite and even on my knees I was even with her face.

"You-" She started.

"Shh. Did you hear what occurred downstairs?" She nodded, and though her face was tear streaked she looked enraged.

"Tell me, has he ever given you his blood before this?" With a flash of pride at resisting something I deemed important in her eyes, I knew Bill had not. "Good. You're too interesting to be his. You know Bill was sent for you, to take you with him. So tell me how you're special Sookie Stackhouse."

"He was sent, I know. But he promised he'd be honest, that he'd go if I wanted. And I am _not_ special."

I scoffed. "I don't think so. You're going to tell me how you knew about the raid, and whether that has anything to do with why you're wanted by the Queen. And do you really believe Bill would leave at your request? If a vampire Queen wants something, it's what she gets."

"He can't take me somewhere when I'm not willing to go." Even eye to eye, she showed only moderate fear, which was outweighed by her confidence.

"You didn't answer my question about what makes you desirable besides your award winning pair of breasts. We have plenty of ways to enforce compliance in humans. Given that you will end up in the Queen's court one way or another, I'm taking you and your.. assets... into my possession. You will stay at one of my homes." I watched her face turn red, pleased with her reaction.

"Oh no you aren't! I may be beaten to a pulp, but pigs'll fly before I become _yours._ "

"Such sass. No matter though, you're mine or they would take you and you would never see your family again. You would be a slave and they'll find a vampire to keep you in the yoke. When a vampire gives blood to a human three times, they belong to that vampire. It is not commonly done, yet Bill gave you his blood, starting the process."

"Bullshit! Bill came here because my cousin who lives with the Queen wanted to see me! That's all. He would never." The anger in her eyes threatened to peel strips of flesh off, if it could. I chuckled.

"Don't be fooled. Your injuries are no accident." At that moment sob hitched in her throat and she swallowed it, thankfully. I detested tears. "I am the lesser of all evils in your life right now. If I wanted to, I could have you in any way, shape or form. But I'll wait for you to ask."

"I know that. And I also know I'm never going to ask."

"Don't be unrealistic. You need me, and I want you."

***Sookie***

"You want anything that walks on two legs with tits and a pulse. Leave me alone, both of you."

My heart was tight in my chest. Bill. The security of my home and body was a falsehood. I would be damned if anyone, including Sheriff Eric, was going to have the opportunity to make me feel like that again. Not that I knew what I could do now, but I was not a damsel in distress. And even if Eric could make me into a puppet, I wouldn't go willingly.

While my body was an absolute wreck, I was still holding my own with Eric. When I heard him mention that there was a reason Bill and these other vampires wanted me besides Hadley, I went cold. They knew. From the very first, Bill knew about my gift. He walked into Merlotte's and it seemed random that he was watching me. I had to concede that Eric was right that I needed protection and not inviting vampires into my house wasn't going to cut it if Bill was willing to cause me injury in order to force me to drink his blood. _My god, he could have killed me_. My stomach tightened and I felt my gorge rise at the thought of being attacked in such a malicious way.

"Get this straight Eric." I continued. "I don't need to know you or want you here, but I'll take your protection because I have no choice. But I'm not leaving my house. And don't take that as an invitation to come on over."

"Not even to come say hello."

"Definitely not. And you need to keep Bill away from me." The average woman would have called the police by now, but I was certain they wouldn't be able to help me.

"Sorry Ms. Stackhouse, but I think that I'll be sticking around. You need watching, and you're also pleasant to watch."

"Really Eric, my legs don't even work and you're scheming on how to get between them? You better deflate that head of yours or someone is going to see it from space."

He gave me a cross between a purr and a growl, leaning forward to emphasize that he was interested in doing just that and did not care about my assessment of his arrogance. Everything had happened so fast, I somehow forgot that he was sitting in between my thighs. I must have really been hit hard.

"Don't you growl at me. I am not your property. Even if you vampires seem to think it is appropriate to say "mine" like a two year old, I do not agree and will not comply. I'm sure after hundreds of years vampires have made good investments and have an endless supply of money. Make it happen _Sheriff_ Eric. You owe me my security." My head was so light and I could feel my eyes fluttering as I reached my hand back to prop myself up while holding my head in my other hand.

"Let me heal you completely and fix this half ass job of Bill's."

"No."

"Yes."

"Do you know why god gave you ears Eric? It ain't just for hearing. It's so you can pull your head out of your ass." He scowled.

"You stink of him. To other vampires it smells as if he owns you. You aren't healed; you can't even walk. My blood is stronger than his and you can take less and be healed. The added benefit is if anyone else scents you, they'll mostly stay away because I rule this area. I am offering it to you, which should let you know the seriousness with which I take my offer of protection."

"Like Bill was serious about me?"

Eric extended his fangs and showed me the beginnings of a snarl.

"Put those away Eric. I'm not afraid of you."

He said nothing. And then I was pinned to the bed, arms above my head held by a single hand. My legs ached to the bone. Eric's hand was caressing my jawline.

***Eric***

"Fear is healthy. It keeps you alive. Don't neglect to have it Sookie." My thumb was pressing lightly into the dip on her throat between her clavicles. I waded through Bill's scent to find hers. "In all things discussed I will accommodate you, but for giving you my blood. But let me explain how an average vampire would consider the offer you're suggesting. I am indulging one of my cattle in grazing where it likes and letting whoever desires drink milk from it. In fact, I won't eat it, which is one of few things cows are good for. I'll even trust someone else to guard you from harm, but I won't even put a tag on my cow to let others know it is mine. Am I offering to treat you like a cow Sookie by offering to take you into my own home? I could make you heel against your will, through whatever means necessary. I, nor the Queen or any powerful vampire needs your mind and body whole in order to get what they want from you."

I let that sink in. Her face contorted in anger and she bucked her hips up to leverage pulling her hands out from under me. Not getting the message. I would have to deliver it a little harder.

"Bill Compton." Bill was in the room, blood tears dried on his face. Sookie twisted her head to see him and then quickly looked away.

"Bill, why don't you tell Sookie exactly what you did to her from start to finish. Just the synopsis Bill. I don't want to hear your excuses."

"Sookie.. I-"

"And you don't fucking talk to her Compton." I pushed my body down on her to display to Bill that his time with her was done. "And if I have to provide you with any more prompting I will relieve you of your head and send all of the blood my staff can scrape off the floor back to Sophie-Anne in a gift box."

"I came here under orders from Queen Sophie-Anne to collect a telepath by the name of Sookie Stackhouse. It was known she worked at a bar run by a shifter. Her cousin, Hadley, who has been Sophie-Anne's pet for some time let slip that Sookie was possibly a telepath. Since there are very few telepaths, Sophie-Anne wanted her. Once here I entered her life with the intention of gaining her trust, after which point I would take her to the Queen to be used for whatever purpose Sophie-Anne needed. My personal intentions for Sookie were to protect her from anyone else at court by blood bonding with her."

"There's more Compton." Telepath? Interesting.

Bill's body sunk into itself as Sookie looked at him again. His eyes met hers and she looked devastated but defiant.

"I… contracted a human to break a part in Sookie's car. The car broke down as was expected. She was waiting for the tow truck and I hired a vampire to injure her severely so she would take my blood."

"Now was that so difficult?" It was a delight to watch this 200 year old baby vampire of Lorena's crack under the weight of his actions. I didn't have to force him to tell the truth either. The fool must have thought his confession would go over well with Sookie. "Leave."

"Sookie!" Bill shouted.

***Sookie***

Eric was on Bill and off of me. I propped myself up on my elbows and twisted to look. I saw Bill's bleeding arms at Eric's feet and Bill falling to the floor. I screamed.


	6. Chapter 6

***Sookie***

I awoke abruptly to dreadful pain. I whipped the covers off of my legs and saw that they looked as awful as they felt. Gran walked in with breakfast on a tray and a determined but sad look. I looked towards the window in embarrassment as Gran sat on my bed.

"How did I get here." I felt like a teenager who had drank too much and had to be dragged home drunk to her parents. Except, you know, it was much worse than all that.

"The blond vampire came to the door with you in his arms."

"And?" Tears slipped down my cheeks as Gran placed the breakfast tray on my nightstand. She sat down next to me and her frail arms wrapped around me.

"Honey... He didn't tell me much. He asked to take you up to your room so I invited him in. Said that there would be someone coming here today to meet you. And that you would know what this person was here for. Sookie, what happened?"

"A car accident."

"And you weren't found by the police and transported to the hospital?" She lightened her grip on me to lean back and search my face for a reason.

"No. Bill came for me."

"And the blond vampire?"

"His name is Eric Northman. He owns a vampire bar, Fangtasia, in Shreveport." Gran didn't say anything for a short amount of time. At least she wasn't searching my face for answers. Instead she looked lost in thought.

"And… this accident wasn't something they were involved in Sookie?" Rarely did Gran think the worst of anyone, but this entire thing was out of sorts. We'd both be blind to not question why I got into an accident and ended up home via vampire instead of in the hospital. And here it was; I am about to lie. God forgive me, but I don't know what Gran would do if she found out that vampires were after me and wouldn't stop until they had what they wanted. There's no where we could go and maybe I was jeopardizing her life by staying. Maybe I should leave.

"No Gran. Bill just happened to find me. I was very lucky." It was so hard betraying the honest relationship I had with Gran and it felt like I was wearing another person's skin in doing so. Not telling the truth to Gran was not me. But it had to be me today, because I couldn't risk her getting involved. She can't help, and if she tried the vampires might consider her an obstacle to be eliminated. Not that a grandmother could do much, but if she made it more difficult for them I could see it happening. Bill had just engineered a car crash for christ's sake, only so he could get his blood into me. There's no telling the lengths they would go to in order to ensure cooperation from all parties.

"We need to get you to the hospital then. I'll take you after breakfast."

"I think I will be ok. Nothing's broken now and we can't afford the bill either."

"Nonsense, we should go."

"Let's wait a couple days then? It's more bruised than anything, but if it keeps swelling we can go."

She was silent for a second. These moments happened when we were confronted with the reality that some things, like healthcare, were completely unaffordable even if they were necessary for us. _I guess if a vampire is good for anything, it's a healing. I suppose they're too damn selfish to provide a vampire to each hospital._ Now that was an idea, but for another day.

"Alright then. I'll bring up some food later." Gran gave up trying to get to the bottom of this. There were clearly things neither of us wanted to say to the other and she wasn't in the mood to out-stubborn me. Neither of us were. She pushed the tray towards me and planted a kiss on my forehead before leaving. I waited until I could hear her shuffling downstairs before losing it.

My car… It was a beater to be sure but it was the only transportation I had and I loved that rusty old thing. It was such a stupid thing to think about, I knew, but it represented my potential income and any freedom I had in life. I sobbed into my arms, dejected. When I pulled my sniffling head up for air I knew I had to do everything to evict these vampires from my life. I got the impression that the vampire view on getting what they wanted was "do what we say or die" without much room in between. This was not a way to live and I wasn't a coward for wanting out of it. Maybe the government could help. The nearest FBI office had to be Dallas. But I'd have to leave my life in order to have those resources.

I whispered. "Bill, I rescind your invitation. Eric, I rescind your invitation."

***Gran***

I recalled Eric Northman holding my battered granddaughter in his arms. Seeing her like that, I thought my nightmare had come true. That she had voiced a thought of someone's that put her in harm's way. All of my fears for Sookie centered around someone, anyone discovering and believing in her gift, and that they'd take or away or hurt her for it.

" _Invite me."_

" _Come in! Oh god. No - "_

 _He stood, holding her in his arms tenderly, her head propped up on the curve of his arm instead of flopping backwards. I had not heard of this vampire from Sookie and seeing her laying limp in his arms roused my fury. If he wasn't a 6ft plus tall vampire, I would have beat him senseless. And if he had anything to do with her injuries, I'd call in every favor I had with the police department to see him arrested. He may be a vampire, but he wasn't above the law._

" _What is your given name, grandmother of Sookie?"_

" _Adele. Give her to-"_

" _What is she?" The vampire cut me off. No. Oh no._

" _She's my Sookie! And nothing else." I blanched, unable to hide my fear._

" _You are lying, and it will not protect her to continue this lie."_

 _I recalled Fintan, my lover made of light. My husband could not give us children. We had tried for years with no success and neither of us was willing to admit to the other that something was wrong. Then Fintan came, and with him the promise of children. He told me he could not stay, but that he would give me something precious. And he did. A girl and a boy. I would not admit that to this man, this vampire. Fintan told me to tell no one. But… it was becoming apparent that these strange events could be attached to her other family. I didn't want that to be true._

" _She is my granddaughter and she needs to go to the hospital." I insisted. Even though I knew Fintan wasn't exactly human, I had never questioned what he was. He never gave any indication that he was so far from human as to endanger himself, and thus his children._

" _It will be fine. She only needs a couple months to heal completely. Her bones have been mended, but there are fractures. And I'm not sure you can take her anyway. I doubt she's completely human."_

 _I sucked in air. Sookie had never been sick, and the one time she cut her head the doctors took the opportunity to test her blood type. They came back saying it didn't match any blood type and that the test must have been contaminated. I wasn't completely shocked, but I knew that I didn't want them to pursue the matter. We went home without any more tests._

" _Will she be safe?" I had always assumed trouble would come from other people, and it would be about some secret Sookie uncovered. But I had neglected to imagine how useful her mind reading would be for others. Humans couldn't force other humans into some kind of slavery, but vampires could. This vampire didn't seem like he would, but the threat was there._

" _She'll never be truly safe again. But she should heal without issue."_

 _I broke down as I walked to the parlor. This was all my fault, and I didn't think I could right it._

***Sookie***

"Ms. Stackhouse?" The knock and the voice was definitely a man's. I heard Gran open the door.

"Can I help you sir?"

"I am looking for Sookie Stackhouse? I was sent by Eric."

"Oh well why don't you come in! Would you like some tea? Soda pop? I'm Adele, Sookie's grandmother. So very nice to meet you. What did you say your name was?" Ever the polite hostess, I wondered how my Gran was holding up. She seemed ok, but I knew that this was more than either of us had ever had to deal with since my parent's death. I didn't want to go rummaging around her head to find out. You don't do that to people you love.

"Alcide Herveaux. I appreciate the offered hospitality Mrs. Stackhouse, but is Sookie available?"

"She's resting upstairs. Her legs… she's not able to walk. Let me see if she's awake."

I heard Gran walk up the creaky stairs towards my room.

"Sookie-"

"I heard Gran. Is it alright if he comes into my room? He's not here to hurt me."

"I don't see why not." She turned, but then stopped. "Sookie, I have to tell you something after he leaves. It's very important."

"Ok Gran." I was lost in what one might call thought, but it was only misery eating me from the inside out. _Perk up. It could have been worse. Bill wasn't even your boyfriend before he betrayed you. And now you have an even better vampire! One who stalks you all honest-like._

Louder and heavier footsteps approached. The door squeaked open.

"Ms. Stackhouse, I'm Alcide?"

I looked at him. He was easy on the eyes and he looked so very strong. I caught his thoughts drifting through the air. There was less control over hearing them when I was as exhausted as I was.

 _At least Eric's pay is good. It's good to be out of Jackson. This job won't be so bad. A human girl can't get into that much trouble, even if she's wrapped up in the vamps. Speaking of, she smells of them._

I got the strong impression he was gagging on my scent. Now that I knew shape of his mind, I was recalling other times where I had met people who had the same pathways of thought that he did. They were snarled and needed to be unraveled, unlike humans who were crystal clear often like listening to a loud speaker. Before I had never thought to ask why the tangle-minded people were different. I had no reason to be polite, so now was my golden opportunity to ask.

"I'm Sookie. But you probably know that. You're not completely human. What are you?"

"Uh, a Were." He was clearly surprised that I would come out and ask. I was also being rude by popping out that question right away.

"Wolf?"

"Yes."

"What is it like? Being a wolf." I wanted to hear what his mind had to say. I should have known there were Werewolves, but I wasn't expecting every horror movie staple to be real.

 _Running with the pack. All one, each parts of a whole. The air is thick with smells of the night. The strength flowing through each of the other wolves went into him and back out. They howled together, crying their fulfillment in what they were. The sight and scent of a were-bitch…_

I stopped right there.

"Well it's a connection, you know? And it's fun to run with your fellow pack members. We take care of each other."

I giggled. This entire _thing_ was nuts. I knew he'd think I was crazy for laughing at his explanation and I didn't care. _Behold the field upon which I grow my fucks. Lay eyes upon it and see that it is barren Were!_

"You're all right?"

"Oh I'm dandy." I looked out the window absently. People's thoughts were so different from what came out of their mouth. Even Werewolves.

"Ok. Welp. Eric told me you needed a guard in the evenings. And a range patrol during the day."

***Alcide***

"Is that what Eric said."

Including her oddly timed laughter, I was getting some loud emotions coming off of her and she was clearly a few straws short of a full bushel. I didn't want to know what the vampires had done to her and how she felt about it, thank you very much. It's not that I didn't have compassion, but she should have just stayed the fuck away from them.

It was possible she had never invited them into her life in the first place. But usually vampires only went after the willing. She probably didn't know what was good for her at the time. With vamps they never tell you how bad it will be until they've broken you into pieces.

"Is there anything I can get you at the store? Any other errands you are unable to run that I can help you with?" She looked like she was trying to hold it together. Better than I'd seen most people react to being involved with the supernatural. Usually vamps had to glamour humans until they were docile.

"Gran can get groceries, but I am too weak to go to my job. I can't… do anything. And I have to have you here." She said softly. "People like me, they don't let us escape do they?"

I paused. "Not really no. Except through death. If Eric is having me guard you, he does not want anything to happen to you… But it is odd he wouldn't assign vampires to you at night if you meant that much to him."

"I asked him to keep vampires away from me. "

"Why… would you do that. I don't care for them much myself, but they are superior guards. And if the vampires like you, they keep their favorite toys safe."

The look she shot me was withering. "I am not a toy Alcide. They seem to think that I am, and if you are of that mind then you can leave."

"My apologies." I meant it. She had some kind of attitude and pull telling Eric Northman off and getting away with it to have me to guard her full-time instead of Eric's people. Must be why Eric called me in from Mississippi. He probably knew about her smart mouth and brazen demeanor and didn't want the local pack dealing with this troublesome woman unless it was necessary. _I thought this would be easy… Mental note to fact check any more jobs from Eric Northman._

Her intelligence and steel in the face of her battered legs and shoddy circumstances was impressive to me. Usually vamps killed the stubborn and smart ones and they didn't fill them with their blood. That somewhat answered my question as to why Eric took her lip; she was coveted. Too bad she didn't know how much crap she was in. It was a waste to be strong and unyielding if you didn't have the firepower to back it up. Yet if she was going to end up dead, it sure as shit wouldn't be on my watch.

"Well," I broke the silence that had fallen. "I am here to check in, let you know I am here and give you my number. I'll be outside at night, in my wolf form. If you need me, I will be there watching. I also have a few other wolves around, so I can get some sleep." I had pulled them in from Jackson and a few other places outside of it. All on the down-low of course.

I left without saying more.

***Sookie***

They were going to be outside. Watching. So comforting!

Gran came in again. "Well, wasn't he a sweet young man, very handsome."

"He was nice. Eric sent him to keep a lookout."

"A lookout for what Sookie?"

"Not sure really."

"Honey. That something I have to tell you. I.."

"Yes Gran?" I was curious, though I couldn't muster the facial expression that would indicate that.

"Your grandfather was not my husband." Silence. Nothing shocked me right now. "We couldn't conceive Sookie, and I was out in the garden praying for a child one day out of many days I had done so. And then he was there. He was made of light and when he looked at me, it felt like going home, even though I was home. I loved him right then and there, and I haven't the slightest idea why. We laid together in the grass…"

While I did not want to hear about how my grandmother hooked up with anyone, I could tell that this was a fond memory for her.

"I spent every day with him while your grandfather was away working. Before he, Fintan, left for good he told me that I was being given the gift of children. It felt like a dream, but it wasn't. When your aunt Linda came… And then your father, I was so happy. I never told your grandfather, though I think he greatly suspected and did not care for that answer more than he cared for your aunt and father. I feel guilty Sookie. It feels like a lifetime ago, but I can't help but think that this whole mess has something to do with Fintan."

"It could be. What was he if not a human?"

"He did seem completely human. Maybe he was an angel. I never asked what he was and I am so sorry I didn't tell you sooner. You seem to have gotten mixed up in something, and I have this feeling that if I had told you…If I had asked Fintan in the first place..."

"Gran you didn't know. No use looking at the past. You did your best."

"Honey, I am not sure that's true." Her hand slipped off the bed as she rose and left the room with a look back at me before closing the door. Gran was not usually so withdrawn, but I didn't have the strength to go chase her. Even moving caused me immense pain. When I had first had my conversation with Eric, I'd just had enough healing to fix my legs up for the most part. The dull ache had settled in along with some sharp pangs whenever I moved.

I took her leave as a signal for me to call Sam and tell him that I was in a car accident and couldn't come into work. I wondered what he would do when he found out I was involved with vampires, willingly or not. Probably attempt to steal me away to his trailer and get both of us killed. _Just what I needed. No influx of money, some broken legs and my secret disability broadcast to the entire vampire world by my loving cousin, Hadley. Merry early Christmas._

"Are you okay? I can come over now. Right now Sookie. You're hurt. Please, I can get you whatever you need." I am so tired of these Sam thinking that he has what I "need". He means well and he's my friend but it grates on me in this moment.

"Sam you are already going to be short staffed as it is."

"I'll close the bar then."

"Sam! Be reasonable."

"I am."

"Sam Merlotte, if I see your truck in my driveway I will throw rocks at it. I swear."

"Thought your legs weren't working."

"Yup, I was planning on crawling to the window, just for you. Though it will be painful, I'm willing to make that sacrifice in order to keep Merlotte's up and running for the masses. You can tell the other waitresses they owe me."

"Ok, ok Sook. Please get well, and let me drop by sometime during the day?"

"Sure Sam, how about tomorrow."

We agreed and hung up. Night was coming. _What's the plan Sookie?_

Yup. I needed a plan, and a good one. Maybe I could get someone to train me to deal with vampires. Like hand to hand combat. I couldn't imagine me fighting anyone, but at this point I was considering getting a hand gun to carry around. Even if I couldn't bring myself to use silver bullets, if I were able to wound a vampire in order to get away that would be worth my time. I guess I could always ask Alcide to see if he would train me to take care of myself in a fight. I picked up the phone and dialed.

"Alcide?"

"Yes Ms. Stackhouse?" He answered promptly, likely keeping his phone at all times.

"I wanted to ask a couple of favors…"

"Ok."

"I waitress at Merlotte's bar and grill, you know where that is?"

"Can't say that I do."

"Well, because of my injury I can't work. I figure that because you belong to a... group of ya'll, you may know a girl looking for a part time waitressing job?"

A long pause. "It's pack, Sookie. There's this girl, Janice, back from college for the summer and she has waitressed before. I'll give you her number."

"Thank you Alcide. I'll make sure Sam hires her no problem. Um, do you know what happened to my car?"

"Eric had it towed and junked. Don't worry, he'll buy you a new one I bet. Anything else?" I didn't want a new one.

"Yes, would you be able to train me to defend myself?" I hurriedly added, "You can stay at my place, and we'll feed you, and you can run on our land with your pack." It must not be fun being the lone wolf.

"Let me think about it. I'll be at your house sometime soon and we can talk then."

"Thanks Alcide for hearing me out."

"The real hearing out will be tonight Sookie."

"Ok, see you then."

Bud Dearborn had called in regarding the accident. He knew I had been rushed to safety yet he did not know the extent of my injuries and a statement was needed. Gran told him to drop by and it didn't take him long to show up.

"Ms. Stackhouse, try to tell me exactly what happened."

I relayed all that had occurred. I clearly hadn't done anything wrong, and I could hear him agree with me in his mind.

 _That poor girl and her mottled legs. She's lucky it weren't worse._

 _Thanks Bud. For once I'm glad to know it's got nothing to do with my being crazy Sookie._ He left without asking any more questions and said he was sorry that he couldn't be of more help.

I wanted to spend more time thinking about all that had happened, but I just couldn't. There were so many issues. Hadley, the Queen, Bill, Eric, my body, Gran. It had all happened so quickly. No warning before a shit-storm wandered into my life.

 _Time for a bath._ Bathes always sorted things out for me, the hot water steaming out my tightly wound thoughts. The bathroom was attached to my room and the curtains drifted on the air through the open window. I crawled to the bathroom on my hands knees, which turned into an army crawl by the end. The standing ceramic tub looked so comfortable to be in, but getting in there would be a pain in the ass. Keeping my clothes on for now seemed like the best idea in order to slide in.

Ok, I had my torso over the edge. Now to twist and drag my legs in without resting on them too much. _Ow ow ow._ I bet this looked ridiculous.

***Eric***

Night had fallen less than thirty minutes ago and I was watching her from a tree that looked directly into her bathroom. She crawled into the bath, willing her legs to get inside. I could see her wincing in pain at her success. I'd seen many people dragging themselves away from battle fields and vampires. Usually with entrails or broken limbs. This was not different. Not in any objective way.

I suppressed a laugh as her body went in but her legs stuck straight up in the air. Staying in the same awkward position, I saw her small hands push her pajama pants over her legs. Instead of bending her legs so she could reach, she just tilted back further with her legs towards her head, trying to avoid the pain of bending anything bruised.

 _Stubborn!_ The rest of her clothes slipped off and went over the side. It was time to leave. I flew back to Fangtasia. Landing in the back of the bar was required to keep the masses uninformed of the better skills of vampires. Pam was waiting for me in her usual high-end, albeit over-the-top sexual clothing.

"Sundresses are in season! Do you want one for your birthday Eric?"

"I have a great many things to attend to Pam."

"Are we attending that blonde?"

"She is under my protection and if you continue to irritate me I'll delegate it to you so you can braid her hair, paint your toenails together and watch The Notebook."

"Not the Notebook, Eric. I'll throw myself into the sun." I knew she was lying because I'd caught Ginger with a handful of movies in hand scurrying out of Pam's house while I waited for Pam to arrive. The Notebook, Titanic, Love Actually.

"Calls, Pam. One more word and you'll be watching all the romance movies that Ginger can find at the local movie rental store. "

She opened her mouth, and then thought better of it. I was certain she didn't want me to catch her enjoying those movies when she was supposed to feel punished.

***Alcide***

I could hear her whimpering in the bathroom from her window. It was unfathomable that she was trying to work through this on her own. I hated vampires as much as any other wolf, but her injuries were extensive and she could really use some vamp blood to heal them. It was time to meet with her, but I wasn't exactly looking forward to it. She was beautiful under all those bruises and she also belonged to the vampires. Touching her would be forbidden.

I closed the distance between myself and the house. She didn't know that I wasn't a pack leader and couldn't make decisions on whether my or anyone else's pack would be allowed on her land. I barely knocked and her Grandmother opened the door for me.

"I'm here to see Sookie. She called me earlier to discuss a favor she wished to ask."

"Of course, please do come in."

"Thank you." I started up the stairs, but the old woman grabbed my clothes.

"Please, is she going to be all right? I asked the other man...I know it was just a car accident, but he said she wasn't safe I'm afraid of the people who are beginning to surround her."

"You're right to be afraid. But at this point she's on a road that's not exactly changeable. The vampires have laid claim to her. Why, I don't know. If you know she is special in some way, it's likely related."

"Oh no! Please no! She's just a girl!"

"I'm sorry." I turned to face her now on the steps, towering over her. "I wish it could be different, but Eric, the tall blonde vampire you saw, has put her under his protection. What this means is that no one else touches her, but eventually he will likely want to do something with her and her consent is not required. He's the equivalent of a Baron in this area and he answers only to the Queen vamp. Every other vampire in the area pays their dues to him. He's powerful and old."

"How do I protect her?" She shook with fear and something like self-loathing.

"You don't. I'm sorry." I turned away from her, not wanting to see the tears in her eyes. Maybe it was cruel of me. Yes, it definitely was, but I don't think her grandmother understood the gravity of the situation. I mean, I had been sent here to protect her. Was that not a clue on how fucked up things were? I stopped in the middle of the stairs and turned around to face Sookie's grandmother again and my gaze softened. "Look, Eric is an honorable vamp, as far as vamps go. He'll be the only one to be around her, really. No one else can touch her while he has claim to her so she's as safe as she can be in a situation such as this. Eric has never taken an interest in a human before, not like this, as far as I am aware. It could be… not as bad. But still…"

"Thank you. Thank you for coming and taking care of her." The woman was shaking and I wished she didn't look like that, because it made me feel guilty if I were made out to be a liar later. I didn't think Eric would sell her off to the highest bidder, but who knows. I nodded and proceeded up the stairs to knock on Sookie's door.

"Come in Alcide."

"Hello Sookie."

"Please feel free to sit on my bed, but not on my legs." She laughed. I was glad she wasn't hysterical because Eric would have my pelt for even attempting to comfort her.

Gingerly he took a seat. "You wanted to ask me for a favor?"

"Yes. First... Did Sam hire your friend to work at the bar?"

"Yes, he did. She called in a little bit ago and he was happy to hire her. I think it will work out well until you're all healed since she's only here for the summer."

She breathed a sigh of relief. It was strange she was more concerned about other people than her dire predicament.

"I wanted to ask you about the training. And add that I was hoping you could better explain the supernatural world to me."

"First Sookie, you are too injured to train. Reconsider taking vampire blood. Normally I would say absolutely not, but you are very hurt. In conjunction you will be healthy enough to start training should you like. But it can't be discussed until you're better. Second, I cannot discuss with you any elements of the supernatural without clearing it with Eric. I'm sorry." I was apologizing a lot today. She looked sad and alone. I wanted to touch her face, kiss her blonde hair and tell her it was going to be all right. _She is not Were Alcide. Stay the fuck away from Eric's possessions._

"Thank you Alcide. Please don't ask Eric, and I'll consider what you said."

"I'll take my leave of you."

I crept out of the room, trying not to disturb her already shattered peace of mind.


	7. Chapter 7

***Sookie***

I'm supposed to be a christian but right now I felt like throwing Bill, Eric and even Alcide in a sealed bag and tossing them over a bridge. They'd get out sure, but not before they clawed each other up something fierce. Maybe I wouldn't include Bill, since that'd be too nice a punishment. No, for Bill I'd run over him with my car a couple of times and see if he heals from that. Not that I have a car anymore, but someday, if I got a car again I might go looking for him. It really was high time to start planning what I was going to do and who I was going to smack silly. Or throttle to death.

"Sookie?" Gran was standing on the landing of the stairs. The house was old enough that there was a lot of echo; you could hear just about everything. Back when Jason lived here, he always got caught sleeping with girls because the walls were so thin. It didn't take him long to move out when he turned 18 into our parent's old house. Both Gran and I were practically shoving him out the door and tossing his bags out behind him. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm all right. Still too sore to do much and I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone, especially Jason, about the walker. Maybe we can hide it if anyone comes over?" I could hear her cackle and come up the stairs. Gran had delivered the walker right after Alcide left and I wished I'd had it for my bath earlier. She entered the room having already prepared a plate of pancakes with some fruit for me. The tray from last time was still here and she took the old plate and silverware away and placed the pancakes there.

"That doctor made me get that dumb thing and I'm just glad someone needs it right now because I'll be in the grave before you'll see me using that in front of Maxine Fortenberry."

"I know exactly what Maxine would think too, that gossip hound." I rolled my eyes at the thing. She barked out a laugh again. Mrs. Fortenberry acted as though she was the town crier, but not a one person would pay her to fill that position. She was a notorious gossip of the petty variety.

"I'm going to call Jason and Tara and let them know what happened. They'll likely want to stop by, and I'll tell them tomorrow. That alright with you?"

"Yeah, it'll be good to see them. But don't tell them much, I don't want Tara pulling out my teeth trying to get answers I don't have."

"Oh I know how she is and don't you worry, mums the word. Normally I'd disagree, but I think it's best that they don't know everything. I don't want to see you or anyone else hurt." Her expression was one of concern, which I used to rarely see. Now it'd come up several times and I was still uneasy about seeing it.

"My thoughts exactly." I paused. "Gran, it's going to be ok." My voice was soft in an attempt to comfort her. She reached out and patted my hand but said nothing about it.

"I'll go give them a call."

I could hear the conversation from my room.

"Jason… Sookie was in a car accident. She's ok, but definitely out of it. No, Jason, please wait until tomorrow. She's had a rough night and needs sleep. It wasn't all that bad, but she does need some rest. Can you call Tara and have her come over with you? Yes and I think she needs support from ya'll. Thank you Jason, and we'll see you here tomorrow."

G had brought me a late meal before bed consisting of baked mac and cheese with bacon. I wasn't sure myself how I stayed svelte since I wasn't working on my figure at all. Arlene chain smoked to stay so skinny and the rest of the girls at Merlotte's smoked, binged or otherwise mercilessly counted calories. Not me, nope, I eat all the grease I want and stay the same curvy shape.

After dinner, I tried to spend the rest of the night charting out what I was going to do next. My notebook was in front of me, pen in hand as I scratched out what I knew, needed to know and what I could do about these things. About an hour in I started to feel unfocused and dizzy and thought I should rest a little.

I dozed into the night, my dreams pressing around me. They were disturbing, featuring Bill and drinking more of his blood. I thought it was fucking gross, and yet the rest of my body thought it all looked like a good time and that maybe I should try it in real life. It's possible I hit my head during the accident.

Around 2am I was staring at the ceiling. The nasty pulsating in my legs wasn't going away anymore and it had risen to occupy the space in my head where sleep should be. It was all I could think about, and I could feel my body getting hot and cold as it reacted to the swollen torment in my legs. I heard a tap on the windows and I looked over. It was that fuckhead, Eric.

***Eric***

Fangtasia was more boring tonight than it had ever been. Not when there was an attractive female liability laying in her bed refusing my help. I couldn't be bothered to feed and I had pushed a total of 3 women off my stage, used my foot to push away 11 humans and otherwise had glared down all onlookers who dared catch my eye in an attempt to flirt. Pam was having the time of her life watching.

Normally I'd give a few of them the time of day, at least to call them to feed and fuck. But every once in awhile a vampire craves something more wholesome than desperate sweat-laden cattle. And my little liability, Sookie Stackhouse, was a southern home cooked meal just waiting to be devoured.

I left the bar close to closing time, Pam giving me a knowing smirk. She loved the fact that I was waiting on a human and she had reminded me of it several times that night.

"We could have a party welcoming your pet Eric. Longshadow could get you a leash and collar, and I will pay for classes on vampire manners. And if you need some new clothes for her I would be happy to take her shopping, with your card of course."

"I am not above gluing your shoes to the floor Pam. Don't test me."

It went on like that from dusk until I flew away from Fangtasia. Her light was on, and I could see her looking at the ceiling. It was 2am and her eyes were glazed over in agony. Perched on the roof below her window, I knocked on the glass. Watching her head turn as quickly as she could, she grimaced at seeing me.

"Let me in Sookie."

"No! And go away you stupid vampire!"

"Do it. You need me. I can smell infection in you." I could. It was the beginning of one, but it was there. She must be in the beginnings of a fever.

"Yeah? Why not take me to a real doctor."

"A doctor can't help you like I can. Let me in Sookie."

I could see she did not want to. It was calculated on my part that I had waited to visit until she was overwhelmed by her pain.

"Fuck you Eric and your stupid fucking face!"

I waited.

"Oh screw you, Eric, come in then. Quietly! "

That's all I needed. I tore through the house, shutting the door without a sound and was in her room within a few seconds.

"Sookie." I purred. Under all of Bill's blood, she smelled lovely. And the Were had stayed away from her, though his musk hung heavy in the room. _Remember to up the Were's pay._

"I'm not inviting you into my bed Eric, so stop looking at me like a piece of meat."

"You are not meat, but you've been tenderized like it. I'll fix that shortly. But you will be mine, eventually, and at that point I'll be the one tenderizing."

"You know, I had this idea that you were helpful since you got me away from Bill. I guess you're honest about your arrogance though, or are you not always this cocky? Maybe it's just me." She said sarcastically. I answered her obvious question anyway.

"It's not arrogance if I'm always right.. Now, you're going to be good girl and take my blood."

"I don't want to and I'm not going to behave like a dog panting for her master. So don't refer to me as a "good girl" or "bad girl". You want that sort of thing you can get a Were for a pet." Her voice was flat. _Snap, crackle, Pop._ _Wouldn't that be nice to have her ask me if she was a good girl and needed a treat._ I smirked villainously.

"But you will-"

"Eventually?" She spat. What a hell cat. I moved to the foot of the bed and placed my hands on the edge of it, giving her a possessive look that had felled many a woman.

"In case you didn't hear me the first time, I am not inviting you to have sex with me Eric." I chuckled.

"I'll respect your body and your choice, but you will have _me_ , my blood, inside of _you_." I could tell she adamantly disliked the way I was describing it. She was most stubborn and seemingly un-seduceable. At that moment I decided to glamour her.

"Sookie, you're going to drink from me. And then you're going to start liking me, despite your reservations. Slowly you're going to give in to what cravings I'm going to give you and come around to wanting me, needing me. I'll ensure you won't regret it."

She looked at me, and she was absolutely pissed off. What?

"Oh, Bill tried that little bit on me too. Do you all say exactly what nasty things are on your mind? I expected more tact from you, the big bad Sheriff."

I was outright shocked. My fangs dropped and I pulled them back in as I caught myself.

"Cat got your fangs?" She drawled.

"You… You still need my blood." Inside I was scrambling to put my thoughts aright. I tried not to show it and in recovering from my surprise, I resolved to work with what I had here. It's not every day you can't glamour a human. I like a challenge and I'll be glad to "help" her look past this error in judgement on my part. I put my face back in order before grinning and crawling towards her on my hands and knees.

"Nice recovery. Not. What's that bonding thing anyway? Because I'm not doing shit until I know what is going to happen as a result. I've been having some crazy dreams, not that you have a right to know, but I think it has something to do with Bill's blood."

"Correct on the dreams. But don't worry about him because soon your dream-self will swoon over me. As for the bond, a single dose of my blood won't form one. It'll only tell me where you are and if you're safe."

"Like a tracking device. That does not sound reasonable and the dreams are not welcome either."

"You know you're sick. There's sweat on your forehead from the fever that's coming over you. You have no other options."

"Hospital-"

"Can't help you. You don't want to be laid up when other vampires come for you, and they will. I assure you I am the lesser of all evils in your life right now. One sip from me won't kill you."

"I'm sure it won't." Her eyes searched mine and she released a loud sigh before throwing her head back on her pillow and looking up at the ceiling. "Fine, but don't get your shoes on my bed."

"You can wash your sheets." I started my crawl towards her.

"No shredding anything! Including my clothes." Her head popped up to chastise me preemptively.

"I'll buy you new ones." She rolled her eyes.

"Don't spill your blood either." I had assumed she would disagree at the last minute, but she didn't. Now that wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.

"I assure you that you'll drink every last drop I give you."

"Oh will I? We'll see. At least I'm making a choice, even if it isn't a real one." I moved and was on her with my nose almost touching hers. Her scent was strong now, and her eyes were a stormy blue with her delicate lips and jaw set to an angry pout.

"You're right. I am sorry for attempting to glamour you." The words were whispered against her skin. I wanted her to _feel_ how sorry I was, even if I wasn't. Her eyes softened quickly before turning arrantly hard again.

"If glamour is that thing where you try and force me to do something I don't want to do, don't you dare try it again. And don't think enjoy this too much Eric. It's not happening again."

Without a word, I tore open my wrist with a crunch and collapsed by her side tenderly bringing it to her mouth. Her eyes dilated and she latched on with fervor.

***Sookie***

 _Oh… Oh my god, he tastes absolutely amazing. Like chocolate and fruit, but more. Better than Bill. So much better._

I was humiliated at how greedily I drank from him. But I could feel my healing, along with the not unpleasant sensation of being brought to climax. His blood was running through body at break-neck speed and the edges of my vision were a hazy red. It seemed right, but a part of me was yelling in the background to come back to my senses. I managed to tear myself off his arm before I came. My panting was loud, but orgasming would have been mortifying. I opened my eyes to Eric's satisfied smile.

"You see? You do want me."

"Eric! Why don't you take a guess as to who's shit I am totally sick of. Go on, _guess._ "

"It couldn't be me, surely."

"You know can't just say things and then try to make them happen just because you say them. I'm not a toy Eric and I don't want you!"

He was silent and unmoving over me but for his ice blue eyes meeting mine. Slowly his shit-eating grin slipped away and the self assured Eric lapsed into being a very serious vampire.

"I don't want you as a toy." I didn't really care if he looked sincere. Telling me he didn't want me as a toy was soooo nice of him to say, but it wasn't like he said I mattered even if I wasn't on the level of "food". _Who cares about a vampire's feelings. They certainly don't seem to care about mine._

Even as he was studying me intently, I noticed my legs felt immensely better. I broke the tension between us.

"I want to see my legs Eric. Move your butt, buster."

Eric got on his knees and carefully pulled the covers down, his shit-eating grin returning. I was in my underwear and desperately tried to cover more of what was between my legs.

"Vampires don't feel the same about nudity as you humans do. You are pleasant to look upon."

"Look. Away. Eric."

"Very well." He stood up, never taking his eyes from my body and walked to the corner corner facing the wall while I grabbed sweat pants and a baggy shirt. I was not up for examination tonight.

"May I turn around Sookie?" That may have been phrased as a question, but Eric had a way of making everything sound like he was going to do exactly what he wanted, when he wanted.

"Yes, I'm decent. You should leave." He moved over to my window to open it before turning around and looking at me.

"But I don't want to. I'd prefer to bring you to where you were when you were drinking from me and then over the edge."

I knew I was turning crimson as he said those words. That fucker. He knew.

"Eric, I rescind your invitation!"

He flew out of the window and I could swear his face still wore his smug smile instead of surprise. _He opened the damn window because he expected to get kicked out!_

"Ass!" I shouted after him. He paused, suspended in the air before blowing me a kiss and flying away.

I huffed, feeling exhaustion hit me all at once and I collapsed back into my pillow.

"Sookie? Is there someone here?"

"It was just that vampire, Eric. Don't worry Gran, he's gone now." She crept into my room from hers, looking as worn as I must have looked. "Gran my legs are completely healed, but I'm so tired now. I know I never mentioned, but vampires can heal with their blood."

"So why did Eric wait then? You needed help and he didn't even-"

"Gran, it's not his fault! I refused him. I just… I just got stubborn about it." She sighed meandered over to close the curtains on my window and tidy the blanket over me before looking distantly at my door. "It's ok Gran, you can go to bed. I'll be fine. I only need some sleep."

"Sookie I'm going to do what I can about this. I know we can't go to the police or anyone, but I'm going to try and think of something." I didn't try and contradict her, and I hated not having confidence in her. We were in so far over our heads that our collective sanity needed a search and rescue team. "I'm awake now, and I might come check on you in a bit if I have some answers."

I didn't know what answers she was talking about, but far be it from me to stop Gran from something she'd set her mind to. After Gran left my room I laid back and I was out as soon as I closed my eyes.

***Gran***

I needed help for my dear Sookie. I had been sleeping uneasily when I woke up to Sookie cursing from her room. After Eric's visit, there was no getting back to sleep. Fintan had always told me that if anything ever happened to Sookie that put her in mortal danger I was to call for his father by name, Niall, three times. I had held optimism that Niall wouldn't have to be called, but it was time now. I wasn't sure why I had hesitated when Eric brought her home and confirmed that someone knew she was special. Maybe it was because now that she was healed the vampires might expect her to leave with them instead of recovering from her injuries. I went to the garden and stood under the moon. Movement at the treeline startled me and I saw a large brown colored wolf trot out. It looked at me, while I sucked in my breath with fear. _I hope that's Alcide._

The dog breathed out heavily and turned back to enter the forest. Calling Niall was more pressing than ever.

"Niall, please come. Niall. Niall!"

I waited for five minutes. Nothing appeared. My senses gave no indication that anything had changed in the air around me. It was time to go back in the house and admit my failure to protect my granddaughter and think about where we could run to. We'd have to leave the house behind. And I hadn't even thought of Jason.

"Adele," Said a kind, fatherly voice. "I am here."

"You are… Fintan's father? And you know my name?" I turned to see a kindly older man with long salt and pepper hair. He had sharp features and still looked fit and lean in his age.

"Yes. Fintan loved you very much. You know he had passed? And am I given to understand from him that he had children?" I knew Fintan had died since he had come to me with what was clearly a parting gift.

"Yes, they have passed but I have a grandson and granddaughter here with me. But it's my granddaughter that concerns me." I started to cry. My son had drowned and my daughter Lisa had succumbed to cancer, having been put into the ground too soon. I watched Niall sniffed the air through blurry eyes.

"Vampire, Were." He said absently. "What's her name?"

"Sookie. What's a Were?"

"Never you mind Adele." He continued sniffing the air and rotating his head as though he could see everything in the treeline and beyond.

"Niall, she's special. She always has been. Sookie can hear the thoughts of those around her. I've never quite-"

"Silence! We are surrounded by those who would hurt her. Do not make the mistake of revealing who she is."

I quaked at his anger. Maybe this too was a mistake.

"Oh Adele." He said tenderly. "I'm sorry for the fright I have caused. I only care for my great-grandchild and am much more aware of the threats that face her. May I see the girl?" He had calmed and looked caring and concerned once more.

"Yes. Please come in."

Niall followed me to the front door and waited for me to show him up the stairs.

***Eric***

Leaving Sookie, I flew Fangtasia reviewing each conversation I had from my calls.

 _Send 10 donors to Bill Compton's place to start. Yes. Ensure they are not harmed, but provide as many donors as it takes to regrow his arms._

 _Hello my dearest Queen. I regret to inform you that I had to discipline your procurer for insubordination. Well yes, he hired a young vampire for a task without my say so, injured the life a human intentionally which jeopardized our mainstreaming plans and otherwise denied his reasons while I confronted him about the whole situation. Yes. He's fine. I've sent donors over to help him recuperate from his punishment. I know how valuable he is to you and did not want to hurt him more than was necessary. Well, thank you for your understanding. You are as magnanimous and reasonable as they come._

 _Bobby, increase the numbers of day crew security at Fangtasia. Contact Alcide about a day guard of 15 Weres for Sookie Stackhouse's home. Send in Weres for tonight as well. I don't care how you find them. Local, out of state, all avenues are irrelevant to me. Yes, pay them whatever they want. Also find out all you can about her. Quietly. Yes Sookie, no not the Queen Bobby don't be a fucking idiot, it's not what I pay you for. And no, do not alert the Queen._

 _Lorena. Yes, long time no see. I need a favor. Yes Lorena, I'm calling in a favor. The one where I didn't kill you in San Francisco. Well, I'd like you to come to Area 5 and reign in your progeny, Mr. Compton. Oh I know you're done with him Lorena. I didn't ask you to come here and rekindle things. I want you to help me torture him. Mmm. Glad to hear you're interested. Maybe afterwards we can…? Delightful._

I smiled. While I did not want the Queen's position for myself, I did not want her interference in my life. Soon I would have to remove Sookie from the area. I didn't think the Queen would act with aggression based on what I had done to Compton. She knew I hated him as much as he hated me. It was reasonable to her that I would have found a way to punish him. As for Lorena, I had no intention of sharing sheets with that filthy animal.

***Bill***

I lay on the bed, blood plastering the covers. Thankfully my room was light tight already, or I would have burned from inability to close the curtains the night previous. Eric had left me standing over my arms with blood gushing and had snatched up Sookie after she fainted, taking her out and away. Not a word was exchanged after that and I immediately went into sleep from the extensive injuries.

The blood had been drying to a stiffness that only it can manage. There were a great many things I could not do in my condition. Amongst those was call Sophie-Anne. A knock on the door startled me out of my contemplation. My nerves were completely shot with the night's events and my feelings of guilt and loss and I'd been laying here awake for hours.

"Compton? We're here with donors. Are you upstairs?" I didn't bother to answer.

I could hear them lumbering up the stairs. A few of the women gasped as they entered the room and saw the mess in front of them. One of them screamed as she tripped over my arms.

"Ok calm down ladies. I'll make sure to glamour you when it's over." Their handler said. The girls collectively sighed in relief. You'd think humans would not want their mind altered, but a great many could only handle what was assigned to them by forgetting about the bad things. The pay was good for donors, good enough to risk their life. Especially in the middle of Louisiana where the most they could hope for was a job as a clerk or waitress. Vampires always congregated in areas of low income where people desperate for a paycheck could disappear and no one had the money to do anything about it.

The first woman crawled over to my face her legs spread, exposing her femoral artery as she had been directed. I tilted my head back back and nestled myself against her leg before clamping down. Her gasp was satisfying and I pulled a pint and a half of blood from her. She would be tired, but unharmed. I sealed her wound out of courtesy with a lick. Our saliva has healing properties, which had helped hide our kind in the past.

I went through the string of girls in the space of five minutes. My arms were growing quickly, but they were disgusting stubs of bone and flesh; I was an amputee from the elbow down. At least 15 more donors needed. Maybe twenty.

The vampire keeper nodded at me and said he'd be back with twenty. The man was a good estimator of what injuries would heal with how much blood. He was probably Eric's primary punishment handler. Or secondary to Eric's child, Pam.

"I'll be back in an hour."

All of the girls hurried out and into the cars out front. The doors all slammed and the engine whirred out of my driveway.

Another hour, all to myself with my useless arms. It was less painful than the turmoil in my heart over what I had done to Sookie, which was growing worse by the hour.

***Niall***

I walked up the stairs behind Adele. It was true; Fintan had loved her with all his heart. Enough to keep me away from their children. Getting near this family again had required an invitation, which Adele had given me this night. It was late for her to have called me, but it must be dire circumstances. Truly, I had been waiting for this moment since Fintan had confessed his relationship with a human woman. Our kind had suffered losses within the noble ranks of the fae, and with them the energy they exuded to lesser fae. Vampire and Were scents attacked my nostrils while I walked up to my great-granddaughter's room. One of which was somewhat familiar to me that I would try to place later.

"Sookie, I have a visitor for you." Adele placed her hand gently on the door and spoke softly through it.

"I'm so tired… tell them to go away." I gently moved Adele out of the way before she could retort, motioning for her to proceed back down the stairs. Entering the room I carefully shut the door.

"Sookie." I walked to the foot of her bed where she was laying on her side facing her window and away from the door.

"Who are you? Are you Gran's friend?" She rolled over to face me, her body tensing.

"I am your great grandfather, Niall."

"Oh. I have one of those?"

"Yes Sookie. I have been waiting a long time to meet you."

"And where you before?" She looked healthy, stuffed to the gills with vampire blood. There were few things they were useful for, and this was one of the better purposes of vampires.

"I could not come to see you uninvited. But now I am here." I shook my head with regret. Fintan had worried about my designs on our descendents and he wasn't wrong in that. Where he was incorrect was that it was his children's right to make a choice if they had the essential spark. We were too far beyond respecting individual choice if our species was to survive. It only remained to be seen if she could contribute to the fae.

"Sookie, I am here to help you." I closed out the scents around me and looked intently at Sookie. Inside of her, I could see her essential spark's seed spinning like a tiny galaxy. She was absolutely fae, and with luck she would agree to come with me to meet her real family.

"Why do they want me Niall? Do you know?" She looked at him expectantly, wanting a reason for everything that had happened. _Help is here, my sweet one, but maybe not in the way you expect._

"Sookie. Now is not the best time to let you know, but do know that I will be watching out for you and caring for you. Nothing will happen to you that you are unable to handle. Believe that."

I sealed the area with shields to stop prying ears, eyes and thoughts. Fintan must have blocked her spark to protect her from being found. It was an old and complicated spell, given that it had been years since the fae had to hide their children in plain site. Children were now so rare they never left the faerie realms. It was too bad that it had been held in stasis. Without it developing on its own, there was no way to tell how powerful or useful her spark was.

"But Niall, someone wants me for… something. The Queen vampire? She sent someone to collect me." I sucked in my breath. That fast. Vampires were like bloodhounds; once hooked to the scent they never stopped tracking it.

"I can take you away from all this Sookie. To a safe place. Would you come?"

"Can Gran come?"

"No, I am sorry. She is not able." I

"I can't leave her and I won't go otherwise. I'm not trying to be impudent, but why can't I be safe here?" So much for being able to slip her away into faerie, where no one without the essential spark could enter. But, now that I'd found her, I wouldn't lose her easily. It was inevitable that she would join her real family.

"You're different Sookie, from Adele and others."

"I know. Do you know what both of the vampires who want me said to me? 'What are you?'. Please tell me how I am different. I think I need to know to stay alive. One of the vampires is offering protection and I don't trust it, but it seems like I don't have a choice."

"If I could tell you, I would." I could tell her, but I couldn't trust her discretion under torture. "Now who is offering you protection?"

"Some _Sheriff_ by the name of Eric." She looked miffed and offended. I sucked in a small breath; that was owner of the vampire scent. I had dealings with Eric and his maker in the past and they were respectable but fierce. It seemed convenient to allow Eric to watch over her at his expense if I could withhold my involvement from it until it became inconvenient. But Sookie would start developing her spark within days and the vampire would start asking questions of his connections shortly after. Eric was as sharp as a silver stake and if he knew her relation to him, he'd never dare harm her, but he would leverage her against me. If I asked him directly to defend her, he would readily agree knowing I owed him a favor. I wasn't in a position to protect her myself; my involvement would only worsen her safety. But she was valuable enough to me to wage a war against the local vampires, and possibly Louisiana in entirety, if anything happened to her.

"Eric is honorable enough. Has he attempted to…?"

"Oh yes, he has tried to get me out of my underwear all lickity split and get me to drink his blood. They can't… do this thing where they tell me what they want me to do. It was almost funny, but... "

Looks like that gift of his line couldn't be contained to her spark and was manifest throughout her life.

"Consider Eric your protection. Should he touch you I will deal with him."

"Even though he keeps hitting on me all the time? Are you fricking serious?"

"By hitting on I assume you mean he has been attempting to court your favor, yes. Even though he is doing that, he is only acting as such because he doesn't know your value."

"If I'm so valuable, why can't you help me on your own?"

"I'm not in a position to, given that I have many enemies. Eric is sufficient and if he says you are under his protection he does mean it."

"I don't trust him! Another vampire betrayed me in an attempt to take me to the Queen, so I don't understand why I should consider myself safe with him, with any of them."

"As loathe as I am to admit that there can be reliable vampires, there are some such as Eric who will do as they say they will. I've had experience with him before and I promise you that he will take care of you even if he is interested in you. Now, when did he give you his blood?" I watched her stiffen in confirmation. "How many times?"

"Once, an hour ago." She whispered and I sighed.

"Sookie. Do not give in to him again. Blood, or sex. Do you understand me? You could die."

"How can you say that? I'm drowning with nothing to protect myself but Eric and I could already die any day now. If you're asking me to consider Eric my protection then I should try and pay him back for it. He saved me, so maybe I should be giving him my blood and accepting it if he chooses to offer it. No sex I can agree to. And I'll try to make sure I don't bond, as they say."

If she had grown up fae, there would have been severe consequences for her insubordination. While I was convinced she would survive a bonding, the experiments we had conducted were not successful. She would manifest all of her abilities before it came to that, I was certain. It was important for her to come to her own without interference. We did not train our children into their gifts; fear and need were the roots to awakening. Sometime soon Eric would no longer be needed to protect her anyway.

"He does not need payment for your care. I trust your discretion regarding their blood. I must go now. And Sookie, you should fear them. It is healthy to do so." I portaled out of her room back to the Fae realm.

***Sookie***

Niall didn't seem like a vampire, but he disappeared from her room like a supernatural creature. When I looked at him straight he looked normal enough; a well dressed old man with long, curly white hair. But it was out of the corner of my eye that he looked wilder. Seeing him in my peripherals wasn't enough to know what I was looking at, though. Never had I encountered anything like him, where I could somewhat see that he was different but not quite.

His mind was there as I reached out, but it was untouchable. I could feel my mind sliding off of him like he was a wet water balloon when I reached out to get inside. The entire encounter was upsetting.

 _Well how about that._ What conflicting information. _Eric is honorable enough._ _But_ _don't touch the vampire and don't let him touch you. But oh yeah, otherwise you can trust him. Nevermind that vampires are 33% blood drinkers, 33% sex and 33% conceited ass clowns. Leaving about 1% for brains. Oh, and I'm leaving you here to fend for yourself with Eric. So sorry._

I heard a tap at the door.

"Gran."

"I didn't know what else to do, I called him here. He's gone? I was waiting downstairs… "

"He disappeared from my room. I'd be celebrating having a great grandfather if things didn't suck so bad right now. I know you brought him to help, and I asked him but he said I'd be fine with Eric."

"He didn't help you. But he said you have Eric?" She looked devastated and beaten standing there in her nightgown.

"It's ok Gran, it's going to be ok. Niall said Eric is safe." Gran still said not a word and started wringing her hands together as tears pushed out of the sides of her eyes.

"Gran, what is he?" Silence.

"I don't know exactly."

"Huh. I assume there's so much out there that we don't know. I don't even have time to fathom."

***Sophie-Anne***

"Eric. I'm calling for a follow-up regarding Bill. I am asking for a special exception in the future for allowing me to handle Bill's punishment." I was not asking, but being polite is a part of distinguishing my rank.

"Yes your Majesty."

"I am making him the investigator for the area. He will manage all vampire crime and will dole out their punishments." The idea was to give Bill independence from Eric. I had to be careful not to put him on even footing with Bill, or Eric would investigate further into Bill's mission, if he already hadn't. I wouldn't put it past Eric to find what Bill was looking for. But he would cede the human to me if he had her. "You will keep your personal hatred for Bill to yourself."

"Yes Sophie-Anne." Chastising Eric was a gamble. His streak for independence was well known. But he had settled here for the first time in a long time, so this was his home. It was also clear that his child was very attached to him. Which was of use to me should he step out of line.

"Thank you Eric. I trust your discretion and cooperation in this matter."

***Bill***

I had to call Sophie-Anne and admit my failure. It was a gamble. Even though I had failed her, if I let the situation continue then the Queen would not have her prize. Northman had always been an asset to her, but a tenuous one. The Queen was aware that Northman could put her down in single combat. Better that she know the time had come to euthanize him.

"Sophie-Anne."

"Ah Bill. I have just finished chatting with our mutual friend Eric. I am making you an investigator of Area 5. You are aware of what those duties entail?"

"Apprehend vampires for crimes against humans and vampires."

"Good. Now to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?"

I told her everything. Every last part, and I did not bother to hide my failure. To do so would invite her to give me the true death, if I hadn't earned it already.

She was surprisingly calm on the other end of the line.

"Something like this was expected to happen with Northman eventually. It is good to have a reason to provide the Council, along with your evidence. While you have failed me, in many ways it was out of your hands once Eric realized you were after her. As you realize, he is much older than you, or I. So we will do nothing for now, and let him think you have not spoken to me on this matter."

"Sophie-Anne. I am forever grateful - "

"Don't grovel Bill. It does not suit you."

"What comes next?"

"You'll see."

***Eric***

I ended the call with Sophie-Anne. This was to be expected. I had a tentative plan to continue guarding Sookie and up security accordingly. Bill would admit to his failure and any plans I may have, if he already hadn't... If Sophie-Anne found out my involvement in guarding Sookie, I would have to say that I thought she was an asset and I was analyzing her in preparation to bring her to Sophie-Anne myself. And that the guards were to keep an eye on her under the guise of protecting her as it was only recently that Bill let me know the details of the mission. If Bill attempted to further throw me under the bus at that point instead of acquiescing to an agreement on a miscommunication between us, I would find a way to take him with me. If it meant becoming King by challenging Sophie-Anne it would be something I'd have to consider.

"Pam." She was there in a blink.

"Eric."

"Please assign a solid team of vampires to guard Sookie Stackhouse at night, for now. Inform the Weres that they will take over daytime shifts and supplement night shifts, and get every pack member possible. This includes local packs. Require them to carry weapons."

"Sundress? Eric, why-"

"Your trust is imperative. And your lack of knowledge in this situation will protect you should anything adverse happen. I won't let anything happen to you on my account."

Pam looked meek. She always did when the threat of losing me arose. But it did make her fight like a monster when I was under under attack. I had trained her in many styles of battle and I was happy to find she was ruthless, quick and had no hesitation. Our relationship was more intimate than many Makers and their children. I was never harsh with her when I did not need to be. I did not command her to do anything anymore; she did it out of respect. I have offered to release her, and she has steadfastly declined. It was good to have her near. She was my enforcer and she performed this duty with great effect.

"Eric, I will take a shift tomorrow night. I assume you are adding security because you anticipate an attack. From who is irrelevant. I will be there."

"That is wise. In the meantime, I will need to have another conversation with Bill, in person. That will have to wait until tomorrow."

***Sookie***

 _Screw you Eric. Not literally because we've been doing that in my dreams all night._ Why oh why couldn't I get a good night's sleep around here without having sex with vampires in my head? The worst thing was how _good_ it had been. Dream Eric was an attentive and almost… kind lover. If it was possible to be kind while he was pushing every button ruthlessly. While I couldn't believe I was analyzing dream Eric's lovemaking skills, it made me shiver to think that maybe it was how he actually was. Kissing and worshiping while wrenching pleasure pleasure roughly from me. I moved away from the wet spot I'd left on the bed.

It was late morning and Gran walked on the creaky hallway to my room to tap on the door.

"I'm awake Gran."

"Jason and Tara are coming by today. I thought… maybe you could talk to them."

"Thank you Gran. I love you." I said that last part desperately. I needed her to know I didn't blame her, that I loved her and trusted her.

"I love you too honey. I'm going to make you a late breakfast if that's all right."

"I'd love that." She flashed me a smile that I hadn't seen in a while and went downstairs to get started.

As much as I loved my brother and Tara, I didn't want them to see me like this. I wasn't physically battered, but my emotions were a mess. And I certainly did not want them to know the extent of what I had gotten into. Jason would howl at me endlessly and uselessly, and when he was done, Tara was going to rip me a new one.

There was a knock and the door opened downstairs and I knew it was Alcide. He exchanged words with Gran and made his way up to my room.

"I'm decent Alcide." Getting that out just before he was going to knock. The door squeaked open.

"I'm here to let you know that you have a lot of security today and that there could be a daytime attack as well."

"I know. More wolves?"

"Yes."

"Can I be an honorary pack member now? I'm surrounded by so many. I don't turn into a wolf but I have a lot of bark and maybe some bite."

"That you do." He chuckled. "Just letting you know, and I'll be on my way for now. You shouldn't see us much unless there's a threat. Glad to see you're better by the by." I smiled at him and he nodded.

"Alcide?" He was turning towards the door, but stopped and looked back at me in askance.

"Thank you for everything. You don't have to be here, but you are and I can't tell you how much I appreciate you're taking care of me." Nodding once more, he left the room and made his way out of the house. Which was just as well, because Jason and Tara came barreling up the stairs a half hour later. I could hear snippets of the conversation they had with Gran, along with hurried angry voices. The word "vampire" was easy to hear, given that it was said multiple times. They shoved my door open and laid into me without even saying hello.

"Sookie god damnit how did you get hit by a car?! What were you doing? Has the other guy been taken to the station?"

"Well Jason, I got hit by a car like many other people get hit by cars. Randomly. In this case, my car had broken down and no, the other driver was not caught." The words were hollow in my mouth as I thought about Bill's punishment from Eric. Yes he'd been caught, and he was in much worse of a state than being held by the police.

"Sook. You still consortin' with vampires?" Jason looked irate when my expression and words confirmed that this was the case.

"I have. And I ain't sure if it's any of your business!" It was Tara's turn now. Jason was fuming, and wanted to say more but was overcome by incredulity and anger.

"Girl, all of what you do is _my_ business." Tara shot back.

"Sook, you need to stop this bull shit right now. Gran is worried sick, I can tell. Hell, I don't even know what's going on with you! And why are you perfectly fine. Weren't you hit by a car?" And there was Jason with the left hook.

He was right. I did look good. My skin was brighter as well as my hair. Generally, I had a bit of a glow.

"It wasn't that bad I guess."

"Gran said you was laid up."

"I got better."

"Sook. It's girl time. Jason? Out." Tara's turn again. Jason was more than happy to stomp away. He dealt with his problems using beer and sex. Like how he dealt with his day to day life.

"You been seeing a vampire Gran said. And you came home all bang'd up like you was in a car wreck. Then you're all better by the time we come over. And don't even get me started on the fact that you ain't telling the truth about some things. You know I can tell."

"Tara, if I tell you, your life could be in danger." Tara's eyes bored into mine.

"Stop being melodramatic. We've been best friends since we went to school together. I don't believe you're involved in something that you can't tell your _bestfriend_ about." A lot of emphasis placed on the best friend part. _Please don't let me lose her because of this._

"Ok, I'll try to do a shortened version. Basically vampires have a hierarchy that involves Queens and Kings. Even though they're makin' an attempt at mainstreaming, the Queen don't seem to care. She's coming after me, because I can read minds. But there's more to it. Apparently I am _something_ beyond human. They all keep askin' me 'what are you?' and I don't know what to say Tara. They don't let up or leave off. Apparently I am super attractive to vampires. And then last night someone who said he was my great-grandfather said I was different, but wouldn't tell me what. Then he disappeared out of thin air. And the reason I'm not laid up right now? One of the vampires stopped by and healed me by giving me blood, which has made my body right as rain. My head? Not so much."

"So you vampire perfume, and all of them want a piece of the action."

"Yup. And I have the protection of the most badass of vampires in the area, and while I know he isn't going to just hand me over, he won't leave me alone either."

"You fucked."

"Yuuuuup."

"I'll be here for you. You want me to stay over tonight?"

"I don't think that's the best idea Tara. I think lot's of vampires are going to come tonight. And there's Werewolves in the woods that are here to protect me. Fucking Werewolves Tara."

"Sounds like you need me."

"Tara, if I'm going to die, then I don't want you coming with me. If Gran would leave this house I would ask her to. And please don't tell Jason. He'll just get up in arms but he doesn't have a lick of sense about what to do. You know that as well as I."

"You ain't gonna die Sook. And it sounds like someone wants to keep you alive who isn't the Queen?" She hugged me tight and kissed my forehead. "I'll come back in a day or so and check on you, and I'll call Gran tomorrow. I'd stay, but I have to work. "

Tara left the room and shut the door behind her. When I heard Jason's truck engine, I knew she had left with him.

I cried some more. Wolves in the woods, Eric in my dreams, Niall unable to help. Nothing was going well.

I took some time to relax and eat lunch with Gran before Sam came over. Gran made some simple tuna fish sandwiches, for which I was grateful.

"Gran. I'm sorry for dragging all this into our lives. I should have never let that vampire come over."

"Sookie, it's not your fault. Clearly you're caught up in something that neither of us understands. Life happens. Though this is out of the normal scope, god don't give us what we can't handle."

"Thanks Gran." I teared up again when we held each other, her hand on my head slowly stroking my hair.

"Hello the house!" Sam. I got up to let him in while Adele brought out another table setting for Sam.

"Hello Mrs. Stackhouse." He nodded at her as she walked towards him with arms outstretched.

"Will you be lunching with us Mr. Merlotte?"

"Unfortunately I've already eaten, or I'd be enjoying some of your amazing southern spread. if you ever think about being a chef, you should come work for me." Gran loved this little joke between her and Sam.

"It's just tuna sandwiches today Sam. I'll let you and Sookie catch up while I clean!"

I walked up the stairs with Sam trailing closely behind me. We entered my room and he shut the door before hissing at me.

"You smell like vampire. You drank their blood, I smell it on you. And what are so many Weres doing in your woods? Sookie, fuck. What is going on?"

I did not want to be judged. I thought I had done everything I could to avoid this, but it kept winding up on my doorstep.

"Sam. I will not have from you give me the same rundown I've gotten from Jason. A lot of this I had nothing to do with directly. It's about my disability. I can read thoughts Sam. All of them, everyone's. I can find what they hate, who they love and everything in between. Yes Sam, think about that." This was the first I had openly admitted it, and everything it meant. Sam had an idea, but I think he realized in that moment that I knew how he felt about me. "The vampires want me Sam, and the Weres are to protect me from the vampire who is trying to take me."

"Sookie… I'm sorry for getting upset. But… why did you drink their blood? And why Weres? Who is offering you protection?"

"The car accident. I would have died Sam. I was forced the first time to drink, but the second time I accepted because I felt I had no other choice in order to live through what was likely comin' next. Apparently I need daytime protection as well as night, and the vampire who is offering is Eric. Have you heard of him?" Sam froze for a moment before grabbing my arms.

"Sookie, he's coming here tonight?"

"Yeah. He says the Queen wants me, but accepting his protection doesn't mean I'm his. I'm not letting him in my house again for sure."

"Listen to me carefully. Eric Northman is the most powerful vampire in the state of Louisiana and maybe even beyond. He may not be a Monarch, but that is by choice. Do you understand me? If he claims you as his own, you are safe from everyone else, but not from him." Sam was near to tears, as if I was a terminally ill person. Maybe I was, in a roundabout way. "You need to shower before he comes. If he smells me on you, he will be furious and may come after you and me. Vampires are notoriously possessive and Eric isn't likely to be different."

"Pfffft. I can handle Eric Northman."

Sam bit his lip. "No you can't Sookie. Everyone who has gone against Northman has died or been punished severly. He is feared throughout America."

"Then how do I get out of this?" His fear was spreading to me. Niall had said Eric was honorable, but hearing that the noose of his protection was nigh inescapable was different. I may never walk free, and it was a thought I'd never considered before.

"You don't."

"But there has _got_ to be a way to leave this whole thing behind!"

"Listen. Normally I would never suggest this, but if there are lots of vampires after you and if a strong one is offering you protection, take it." I tried to interrupt. "No, no Sookie, you're not understanding. If the vamps want you, you're as good as theirs. But if one of them is offering to keep you away from the rest, it's better him than all of them."

I got the picture immediately. Sam thought that I was going to be raped. And maybe I was. Maybe it would only be a choice of who. Again I pictured dream Eric and wanted to think it might not be the worst thing, but shook it off when I realized I was fueling a bad case of Stockholms.

"I gotta go Sook. I'm… so sorry this is happening to you. The only thing further I can say is that you have to take that shower and recognize that if he has day and night guards on you, at least he cares about keeping you intact."

"That's great Sam. I'm all protected then. Except the small, itty bitty, tiny issue of Eric Northman eventually jumping my bones. Yup. Everything's just peachy keen over here."

"Bye Sookie." He left like I was dying and this was the last time he'd see me. I saw the tears in his eyes as he shut my door and realized he couldn't take it. I didn't read his mind; seeing his face told me all I needed to know.

"Bye Sam." I said to no one.

***Sookie***

I took a shower that day, as Sam suggested. Night was falling once more and today had been exhausting. Gran and I had a quiet dinner before both of us headed up to bed early. Not much was spoken between us, but a lot was said. She was sorry, and so was I. We were both hurting and loving the other fiercely. Neither of us dared to say that circumstances could come to separate us. We may have to go on the run or something like that. But it wasn't a conversation we had to have yet.

***Eric***

When the sun set I rose and gave all of my vampires their marching orders. Pam, Longshadow, Thalia and a few new vampires went to Sookie's. I went to Bill for negotiations. When I arrived I gave Bill the courtesy of knocking. Contractors had been sent by me to fix his door and some of the interior. This courtesy was more shameful than the havoc I had wreaked on his house and person. By doing this, I subtly declared him my responsibility as a subject to my area.

Bill opened, with his arms fully recovered. His expression was one of apprehension.

"Bill."

"Eric."

"I have a little matter to discuss with you."

"Please do come in."

I walked through to the foyer to his parlor. He had renovated the house quickly. When I had run through I had noticed the elegance but a deeper look showed me how much identity he attached to luxury.

"Bill. Have you checked this room for bugs or have you installed any yourself?"

"If I had, I wouldn't tell you."

"Of course, your gravestone?"

"Acceptable." We both vamped out of the house to the graveyard.

"If you haven't already, you will eventually admit your mistake to Sophie-Anne." His posture changed.

"Oh good, you have already done so? You're such a good little boy Bill." He was on the verge of snarling at me. "Calm yourself. I have a proposition for you."

"What."

"When this is all over, Sophie-Anne will stake you. It will happen, now that she can't trust you. Her most powerful Sheriff, an asset to her, was able to thwart you. Thus making me no longer an asset, and you an accessory to the beginnings of my so-called betrayal."

I could see Bill thinking it over. Not that he had much to think on. I was right.

"So what do you propose."

"Betray your Queen, and when this is over, you will have the crown. You're aware I do not want it." If it was anything that this pathetic excuse for a vampire wanted more of, it was prestige. I could see him show the slightest interest, which spoke volumes.

"I cannot have the crown while my maker has a hold on me. What's my leverage and what methods would you have me apply?"

"I will take care of Lorena. Sophie-Anne will attack soon, as you likely realize. I am ready for her; not one of her people will escape. She will then ask you and I where her vampires are. You will tell her the truth and say that I killed all of them. Sound panicked Bill, not that you will need any acting to do so. Once she tries at night with our kind, she will send a day team. They will die too. As long as there are no bodies we cannot technically be accused of anything. And if I do happen to lose… You are still technically being honest with Sophie-Anne about the deaths of her army. But you'll want to leave the state anyway."

"And what what if she keeps coming?"

"We'll wait for any other move from her after those two attacks occur. She may go straight to the Council, but with no proof that will not go over well. She may have to send her children and call in any favors held. But as you are aware, Monarchs aren't in the favor business. She has no Maker, no siblings, and is not well respected by the other Monarchs or council for her illegal procurement of humans. Everyone knows, but there's no evidence besides her procurer of course. But if you were to go to the Council, they'd stake you too for cooperation. So she needs to be ousted in some other manner, leaving you free to take the throne unencumbered by a record of being against mainstreaming and without a living maker. No, it's her children that have always kept her safe, not much else. Without them she is nothing, which is her not-so-hidden secret."

I could see him process all this.

"Bill, I will do this with or without your help. If you get in my way, I will call in my favors and you will wish you had faced the true death."

"I will help, but I am playing the odds Northman. Tell me more about what you wish me to do."

I was about to detail the plan when I felt Pam's bond twitch with battle-lust. It was happening.

"The battle is here. Stay in your home until it's over."

***Pam***

I stood outside the girl's house. It was early in the evening and there were five vampires attendant. Long Shadow, Thalia and three newer vampires. If anyone was the killing machine in Eric's retinue, it was Thalia. That girl, well, girl-like thing, hated everyone and everything. The humans gobbled it up like candy. Thalia was loved as much as she hated.

The new shift of Weres had showed up finally, stripping off their clothes and shifting into the woods. I could feel Eric moving to Bill's.

The woods were filled with sounds of bugs and small animals chirping. And the graveyard near by was a nice touch to the fog slipping between the trees. I could hear it all. I never stopped reveling in my abilities and benefits as a vampire. The hearing, speed, sight, strength, lust.

I noted the two blood bags in the house, sleeping soundly.

A whooshing was all I heard before they were on us.


	8. Chapter 8

***Pam***

There were twenty of them. Sophie-Anne did not fuck around. But the oldest was only sixty years of age. She was also a fool to think baby vamps were a match up against what Eric had to offer.

Thalia was in full swing. She had whipped off her robe to reveal her age when she was turned. A child. An abomination. Children could not take care of themselves in the human world and most vampires were not interested in having any relations with them. Fucking a child's body? Never. Thalia survived by being vicious and hard to kill. It helped that she was over three thousand years old. Watching her rend the vampires asunder was a beauty in and of itself, the dichotomy of her form and true age giving birth to twisted living art.

I had taken three out already, but Thalia's count was ten. _Show off._ Longshadow was on two. That left five. While our younger vamps were no real help, they padded our numbers. The five enemy vampires left scrambled to escape, speeding off into the woods.

We didn't have to take chase. Several Weres latched onto their arms and pulled them apart with another Were gnawing off the neck of each vampire.

Eric showed up for the end of the miniature coup d'etat of Sophie-Anne's army after shredding vampire in the woods that had outpaced the Weres.

"Pam."

"Eric" I smirked underneath blood that was not my own.

***Sookie***

It was the screams that woke me. Gran slept like the dead, but I did not. I listened harder and heard more howls of agony. _What. The. Ever. Loving. Fuck._

Darting out of bed, I slipped down the stairs before I thought about the fact that I was wearing nothing but my nightgown and if there were _things_ out there I was downright defenseless. I opened the front door anyway and was confronted with a battle scene. Several vampires flicked their eyes to me, fangs extended. They were all doused with blood. Wolves slunk out of the woods behind them eyes aglow from the porch light, their mouths splattered with red.

"Absolutely not! Not here, in my yard!" I felt like a horse stung by a horsefly. God damn vampires, in my god damn yard, in the middle of the god damn night. God damnit.

All of the vampires uniformly smiled at me, excepting Eric. Oh yes. Eric was here, and then Bill appeared behind him.

"Sookie!" They said in unison, then looked at each other and hissed. Bill then backed down and Eric raced to stand in front of me.

"Let me in."

"Back off Eric. You're not coming in my house. And you're filthy! Which is irrelevant because you're not coming inside."

Eric turned around. "Leave." The vampires disappeared and the wolves ran off into the distance, howling and yipping. Including Bill.

Now, where is your hospitality Sookie? Let me in." He faced me, fangs dropped in what could be considered a smile for a vampire.

"Your chances of getting inside are 0% mister! I don't know if you noticed Eric, but you're in the deep south Eric and our idea of hospitality is showing you our collection of shot guns. " He chuckled and ignored my threat.

"But what about my Southern home-cooked meal Sookie?" His smirking was outrageous.

"You don't eat. So you only get shot guns and maybe a few rifles. And if you keep up, I'll be buying some silver bullets just for you."

"Very well Sookie. You should know the amount of guards you have will be upped permanently."

"I don't have a choice Eric, so why are you even talking to me." I stalked back inside and slammed the door without a second thought.

***Sophie Anne***

"Bill."

"My Queen, it's good to hear from you so soon."

"I sent a regiment to recover what is mine. None of them have returned and it is almost sunrise."

"You sent them to Sookie's house, correct?"

"Yes."

"Eric… placed a heavy guard on it. I only found out tonight when I was wandering along the edges of the property that something had taken place."

"I can assume they have met the True Death. Thank you Bill, for your provision of an explanation. Please stand by for further instructions."

"My Queen."

***Eric***

I left Thalia in charge of guarding Sookie for the rest of the night. Pam and I had been neglecting the bar in the upheaval. I sat on my throne pensive while fangbangers tried to sneak up and sit or stand near me. One girl had the lack of civility to try and dance next to me as she gazed out at her friends confidently. She fell right into their arms as I placed my foot on her ass, shoving her off the platform.

"You're scaring the patrons Eric." Pam gave me a smile. She didn't care about their feelings so much as the money lost by my bad behavior.

"I'll make sure to push instead of kick next time."

"Or you could repair your reputation by picking one of them to feed on downstairs."

That, I did not want. Sookie Stackhouse had been on my mind since I'd given her my blood. I liked the smell of me in her and it felt right to be near her. Humans had been mostly unattractive throughout my life, a means to an end. Again, it's not to say that I was cruel to them, but I would not choose their life over a vampire's. Except Sookie. I had placed guards outside her house, and I told myself it was because I was thwarting the Queen and Bill, but it wasn't really. Yes, the girl was attractive, but that wasn't quite it. Humans don't like us because they instinctively know that we are the reason night has always been dangerous. Coming out hasn't fixed the fear of darkness; it's only turned the light on to reveal the monsters they always knew where there. So why was Sookie unafraid?

I had reveled in giving her my blood, but I had trouble accounting for why I had so much desire to do so. Her injuries were severe, but I could have ordered Pam or anyone else to give her their blood. But instead I did it. I did not know myself right now, and the blaring thought in my head was to protect Sookie and to push for more. For a bond and blood, for her attention and time. If she looked on me fondly it would make me feel… good. Yes, I'd rather drink blood from a bag than another human. I would take Sookie and there was not a substitute that would do.

"Eric?" My zoning out was annoying Pam I could see. I didn't care much about that. Everything in front of me was dissatisfying and remained so for the rest of the night.

***Sookie***

I thought last night had been a dream, but in waking what I thought were dreams solidified into memories. _There was a battle last night in my yard for my life._ It was time to get up and walk around. To act like what felt like a former self. Yet that self had been here less than a week ago. Everything had changed and I was still catching up, or wanting to stay in the time where everything was fine. However I wanted to look at it.

I was truly frightened now. Somewhere inside I believed that Eric's protection was unnecessary and that this was all an exaggeration. Last night that hope was put in its grave and I was stripped of optimism. And I was cut off from the rest of my support network, because their lives could be in danger by association. Gran was already up to her eyeballs in it with me, and I selfishly did not want her to go away even though I knew I should say _something_. There was no work to go to, no friends coming over, no one to see.

"Gran?" I tried not to yell too loud through the house.

"Sookie dear! I'm outside hanging up the laundry." Sweet normalcy called. I ran downstairs like an excited child and burst outside, somewhat expecting to see the evidence of last night. I hadn't left my room in quite some time. My injuries and fear kept me cooped up in my bed, and that wasn't like me. Yes things were in the shitter, and no I didn't know what the day would bring, but that was no reason to not live. I added some layers to my steely resolve and decided that I was going to get through this and take Gran with me. I didn't know how, but I'll be damned if I was going to fail. And then my brain took a crap, again, and reminded me of all that had happened.

Gran was happily hanging sheets while humming to herself. She turned when she heard me walking over and I immediately teared up and rushed into her arms.

"Shh, everything will be ok." _Yes it would. No, it wouldn't._ My heart couldn't get its answers straight. "Help me finish with the laundry and we'll go inside?"

"Yes Gran." We hung her sheets, our clothes and everything else in between. It never got too low in temperature during the winter in Louisiana. Which was nice, because when you didn't have a clothes dryer you had to go outside to dry everything. The sun made me feel loads better too. I could feel myself smiling despite everything.

We finished and we wrapped our arms around each other as we walked slowly to the front door, unclasping only to get through the entryway.

"Ok, what would you like for brunch? Pancakes?"

"I think that's a great idea." Gran's pancakes put everyone else's to shame.

"I still have some of that syrup the Bellefleurs gave us in exchange for the berries we picked this summer. That'll be a treat!"

You know, Bon Temp as a whole may be poor, but being poor afforded you the ingenuity to find ways to make things better. And everyone being lower income made trades of goods a necessity. We had a chest freezer of fowl, venison, a few beef products, bags of fruit, and vegetables. Gran canned in the summer and that ensured we always had fresh tasting sauces and vegetables. Poor we may be, but lacking we were not.

Gran quickly put together the batter while I set the table and did a cursory sweep of debris under the dining table. We ate as though we were starving. There was desperation between us to hold these moments for as long as we could. These kinds of things were what we did on the regular, but today they felt special. I knew Gran felt it too. The bubble of simple happiness from sharing each other's company made me feel like nothing could ever break it.

We finished breakfast and washed the dishes together. After we finished Gran took my hands.

"I want to give you something that your grandfather gave me. His name was Fintan. I never told you."

"You know my real grandfather was Earl right? You both were my grandparents. Not this Fintan."

"I know honey." She patted my cheek with a smile.

She beckoned me up to her room. Her bed was neatly made as always. We had spare sheets for each room. Gran was sneaky about changing my sheets and laundry. Sometimes I would try to talk her out of helping me, saying that I could do my own housework. But she insisted on maintaining her role, even if she had gotten a little slower at it over the years. I never said anything about that..

Gran made her way to her jewelry box. Instead of opening it she tilted it up, revealing a little compartment underneath. She slid the cover open and in her hand fell some kind of green stone. Carrying it back to me in both hands, she presented it to me.

"What's this?" She sat next to me and put her hands in her lap.

"A gift from Fintan that I am passing to you. After I became pregnant with Linda, Fintan came back with a visitor named Desmond. I can't recall his last name. He presented me with this, and asked that the three of us toast to the upcoming birth of his daughter. At the time, we didn't know about birth defects related to alcohol, but I have to believe Fintan wouldn't have let me drink if it weren't ok. Fintan said this jewel would act as protection for his children and their children."

"Don't you need this then? I can take care of myself, but what about you?" I wasn't being honest with myself about my needing care; I had always taken care of myself. When I was ridiculed and pushed out of any and all social groups, I survived. I didn't think that this thing with Eric and the Queen was that different from being bullied. Yeah, Bill really hurt me, badly. But he could never hurt me again, because I knew his game and I could stay in my house forever if need be, or only go out during the day. It wouldn't be a great life, but I could avoid him.

"Sookie it is for his descendents. And my time is also coming to an end. I want to have a forthcoming conversation with you about the future without me in it."

"You have more than a few good years Gran. At least twenty!" People lived to 100 all the time and kept their minds intact. Gran was unstoppable, I felt I knew it. But much like my oscillating thoughts on whether everything would be ok or not, my mind and heart knew that Gran was right. I shouldn't listen to everything I think.

"It's a disservice to life to pretend as if we can escape death. Those who have chosen to become vampires may have avoided that fate, but we are human. Even if you are not quite human, I am. My life has been full with you and Jason, and I can see the winter of my time coming. And it will be ok, I know that. You'll be ok Sookie."

I was dead silent. It was like the stone represented Gran's impending death, and in that moment I wanted nothing to do with it. As if not accepting it would turn time around to seeing my side of things.

"Sookie," she continued, "Don't be stubborn about accepting this. It's to be used when you need it, so keep it with you. It is meant for you and I have been carrying it for far too long."

"Ok." That was such a stupid one-word sentence. I just couldn't properly respond to what she had said about her death. So I grabbed Gran in a tight hug instead; as tight a squeeze as I felt comfortable given her old bones.

"Now let's go clean this house! When's the last time everything got a good scrub down?"

"Two weeks ago." I smiled through the pain. If Gran could face her own death, I wasn't going to be the one who made her feel worse about eventually leaving. I knew if I really loved her, I would have to let her go one day. But not today. "Let's get to it."

Our love of the domestic bonded us. We were a lot alike beyond that. Stubborn, open to new things, independent, sassy when required, willing to take on responsibilities on our own, always self-reliant. I was proud to be her granddaughter.

It was 5pm or so and Gran was at the stove cooking dinner when the shots rang out in the forest. We were in the kitchen and I crouched and slinked over to Gran to start pulling her upstairs. I could hear that the guns were being fired maybe 40 yards away and I thought of the Weres. Did they have guns?

"Gran, get as low as you can and we're going to crawl up the stairs."

Gran moved as fast and as low as she could, but it wasn't quick enough. A bullet popped through the wooden front door. For a second I thought we were safe to keep moving. But in slow motion I saw the blood seep out from under Gran's hand, held to her chest.

"No!"

***Alcide***

When the gunfire started, I moved to defend Sookie first. Eric had specific orders to ensure her safety above all others. I busted through the door and saw Sookie and her Gran on the floor. Blood was everywhere and Sookie was clinging to her Gran sobbing. I could see the grandmother patting Sookie on the head and stroking her hair with her red stained hand.

"It's going to be ok Sookie." She was whispering.

"No it's not! No!"

They both noticed me at the same time. I looked back and forth between them. Her grandmother looked at me calmly and nodded.

"Take her Alcide." Sookie's eyes widened at Adel's words to me.

"NO! You take Gran! You get her help! Leave me alone you need to save Gran! Gran don't let him take me without you! Gran!" I wrapped my arms around her from behind while she screamed and tried to kick and claw. She was still shrieking when I shut the door to her room.

"Let me back down there now you mother fucker!"

"I'm not opening this door."

"Let. Me. Go!" She pounded on my chest with her fists.

"Ok that's enough."

I had a lot of things in my utility belt, and one of those things was a small but strong nylon rope. Putting her in position was the easiest part, but securing her would be "fun". I tossed Sookie on the bed and straddled her. She fought me tying her arms and I got scratched more than a couple of times. There'd be some nice bruises on me in the morning. Being a Were afforded me some top notch training, which included knots of all kinds. No, she wasn't getting out of this.

After screaming and fighting for 20 minutes against her bonds her adrenaline wore off and her eyes fluttered as she passed out. Sundown also happened to be in 20 minutes.

***Eric***

I awoke to my phone ringing. Alcide.

"Yes?"

"They came at 5pm, about 40 men. Heavily armed. Not prepared for Weres. They took heavy losses, but we need you, now."

"On my way. ETA 7 minutes."

Looked like Sophie-Anne was timing the arrival of her vampire reinforcements soon after the day army.

"Eric. I will gather everyone. Go."

I nodded in assent to Pam, who had heard everything.

***Eric***

I could see the bursts of light from the gun fire. The Weres had established snipers on the roof of the house and there were other wolves in the woods trying to get close to the shooters.

The first nest of the enemy I hit didn't see me coming. Five went down in one fell swoop. The next group had been alerted to vampire presence and turned their guns my direction. I let one bullet hit in order to take out the whole contingent, and it happened to be silver. No issue. My shoulder burned and smoke rose from the hole in it as silver tends to do, but I still took these men out and went for the next set. By this time, their own sharpshooters had set their sights on me. One more silver bullet in my thigh. The one in my shoulder should have squeezed out from healing, but it remained firmly lodged. I was weakening quickly from it, and it was concerning that it had not come out. I had taken the bullets because silver in such small amounts wasn't detrimental to me in a fight and calculated losses tended to gain me ground in battle. So why was my body reacting this way? _Come on Pam._

My Weres were using the openings I provided to maneuver into taking out the other shooters. A sniper was about to fire at me and I knew I couldn't dodge completely given how much strength was siphoning out of my body, so I decided to take it in the same shoulder as the other one. _These are not normal silver bullets._

The gun never went off. Pamela ripped off the shooter's head and threw it at the other sniper in the next tree before leaping onto him and riding him down to the ground.

"Master." She turned and whispered to me as she stood.

"Pam." I nodded my thanks. "Don't get shot. There's something in the bullets besides silver." Pam flicked her head in assent and continued the fight elsewhere.

I needed out. The only place to be safe was Sookie's house. I made my way to her doorstep. The door was open, lock broken, and Sookie's grandmother was bleeding out on the floor. Blood sputtered from her mouth and it told me her life would soon be over. She saw me, and my burning flesh.

"Please… Come… In…." I don't know how she got the words out, but I stepped over the threshold to lean down next to her. As I suspected, there was nothing to be done. She wrenched my shirt to pull me closer. Her eyes were losing focus. Nothing was said as her hand fell away from me. It was over.

Sookie. I opened the door to her room to find Alcide there and Sookie tied to her bed covered in blood.

"Leave."

"Don't - "

"I said leave." I didn't want the Were touching me and I certainly wasn't going to drink his blood. Alcide was gone and I was left staring at the inert form of Sookie. How she'd been out, I didn't know. The pain and burning dimmed my vision. I had to get her awake before I became too weak.

"Sookie. Sookie." I shook her shoulders and was rewarded with blue peeking out from under her eyelids.

"Eric? How-"

"Shh. We're under attack."

"Gran!" My hand clamped down on her mouth as I wrestled myself on top of her.

"I'm sorry. She let me in before she died. I am here to protect you. Please don't scream."

Her eyes focused on the smoke and I removed my hand from her mouth. "Eric, your body is smoking. Why are you burning?!"

"Silver bullets. They have to be taken out."

"Sorry, no can do Eric. I'm all tied up." I ripped her bondings with a weak laugh.

"Eric. Eric? What do I have to do." The world was a little blurry now. Time to rest…

"Eric!"

"Suck them..."

***Sookie**

"Eric? Eric!" The vampire slumped off of her to rest at her side. He was still sizzling like a hot skillet from his shoulder and thigh. I tore his shirt open at his shoulder and tried to stretch apart the first wound. My hands were shaking and I tried not to think about anything else other than helping him. The tears started flowing out anyway. With my eyes clouded, I latched my mouth over the wound and drew in his blood, keeping my teeth clenched to not swallow the bullet. It only took three deep sucks to pull it out.

 _Maybe I should have done his thigh first. Murphy's law he's going to wake up with me between his legs and my mouth on him._ Of course the dreams of Eric flashed before me when I leaned down to put my mouth on his thigh. I tore a larger hole in his pants to get at the wound after I couldn't get a good suction. This one came out even easier than shoulder's bullet. Eric was still out like a light. Uncomfortably tense sexual situation averted!

I examined the bullets. They weren't just silver and they had this strange light inside them encased in glass. The tip was silver, but not much else.

The sound of gunfire had been sporadic, but now it was eerily silent outside. I was glad there weren't any close neighbors other than Bill. Eric was stirring now and I was still sitting between his legs. _Gran._

I was out the door running down the stairs to where Alcide had left her. She didn't make it. Her face was slack, eyes open staring at nothing. "Oh Gran… I need you." Nothing was going to be all right. Gran was dead because of my telepathy. I would have traded everything to keep Gran, including that. We were both covered in blood. I didn't care. I need to be close with her. Hunkering down to her side, I laid my arm across her chest and nuzzled my head to hers. I wasn't sure life was worth living without her.

At that moment, the door busted straight out of the door frame and barely missed Gran's body and myself. A very pissed off vampire stood in the doorway with her hands pressed against the invisible wall that stood between her and I. _The threshold._

"Where's Eric!"

***Eric***

I felt each bullet slip from my body. Sookie had left as soon as she had finished, likely to see her grandmother's body. I looked towards the bullets on the bed and had to squint. They were silver tipped tiny UV lights, clearly made to incapacitate or kill vampires. If I had fed recently these would have been easily taken care of. They would definitely kill a new vampire, however. _Poor planning_

Sookie was crying downstairs. My hunger was caught in my throat. _Really poor planning Northman._ The fight outside had died down and the bond with Pam settled into a slow burning angry satisfaction. She was looking for me and felt my weakness.

"Where's Eric!" Oh Pam, never persuasive. It was time to get up and make sure Pam didn't start shooting at Sookie for target practice. I vamped down the stairs to face Pam.

"Pam."

"Eric! You're okay? You need to feed Eric, now! That stupid blonde bitch owes you! She deserves to be drained dry." Sookie gawked at Pam before she made a quick recovery.

"Excuse me? It was Eric and Bill who brought all this down on my head! I've had enough of your _help._ Every time I see one of you, something bad happens. Don't you have _anything_ better to do _Pam_?!"

"Don't even speak my name you fucking useless blood-bag. You've endangered my maker's life enough! You _owe_ him your blood." Pam slammed her fist on the barrier, and it reverberated with a sound like hitting a panel of acrylic.

"Oh yeah, guess you can't come in, can you BDSM Barbie?" Sookie stood up showing not an ounce of fear. Pam's look of offense was followed by a snarl. She hated the outfits she wore at Fangtasia; fashion and being fashionable was one of Pam's hobbies.

"Enough!" I shouted. "As your maker I command you to go join the rest of the guards and wait for the second wave. Sookie, upstairs." Having been commanded, Pam's face turned into a rictus of pain as she tried to resist, but was pulled away from the door and into the woods.

"Eric, I resc-" Every. Single. Time. She constantly thought the way to avoiding these problems was to kick me out of her house. But it wasn't going to get me, Bill, Sophie-Anne and any other vampire who knew about her to leave her alone. Ever. And I didn't fucking want to leave her alone.

My hand clamped around her mouth, I vamped upstairs and threw her on the bed roughly while grabbing a shirt of hers to gag her. There was still enough usable rope to tie her to the bed again. She started to cry, and kicked her legs at me as I tried to approach.

Then she fell _through_ the bed.


	9. Chapter 9

***Sookie***

I could feel how light I was. The t-shirt Eric gagged me with slipped off, but my clothing came with. Passing through my bed and the floor wasn't a discomfort. It felt normal, like I wasn't going to solidify inside any walls or furniture. Floating down, I became solid when my back reached the floor. Eric was there when I looked up, staring piercingly at me.

"What are you. Tell me now."

"I'm just me! Just Sookie!" _Liar liar pants on fire, nose as long as a telephone wire._ The hell if I knew, and I didn't want him to know either.

"No you are not _just Sookie_. What the fuck are you."

"Eric I don't know what is happening to me." I broke down in tears. All this holding myself together, hoping, wishing and praying that it would all be well was for nothing. My Gran is dead, I thought someone liked me only to set me up to be severely injured, my house has bullet holes from being assaulted day and night and I _floated through my bed_. "I don't know what I am Eric, no one has told me. I get it, I realize I'm not human and I am accepting that there's something about me, not only my telepathy. But I don't know what it is, and no one is here to tell me!"

Eric rushed to my side and bent down to hold me in his arms. It was tender and unexpected, his gaze soft with his eyes close to mine.

"Please don't cry Sookie."

"But Gran, she's dead." I choked on a sob.

 _I don't think she's lying, but I need to know what side I've taken in defending her. It isn't all about keeping Bill and the Queen at bay anymore. She's brave and fierce, and I will see her through intact even if I have to kill everyone who comes near her. Yet her uncontrolled and unknown abilities could get both of us killed._

I was hearing him. His mind.

"I can hear you." I said stupidly, wiping away tears.

"Yes, I've been speaking to you."

"No... Your…"

Eric's body tightened. His fangs slipped out and his face contorted into something defensive and angry. He had no breath, but if he did my face would have been hot with it, he was so close.

"My mind. You hear my mind."

"I…"

"Answer me Sookie or I will consider ending this right now. And not in your favor." His grip tightened and his hold on me grew more menacing and entrapping than comforting.

"Yes. Your mind. I heard you say that you didn't think I was lying and that I was b-brave." There was no good reason to, but I felt confident that he wouldn't hurt me even though he was mad. I knew in my bones, from hearing his concern that he didn't want cause me any pain. That it was possible for him to not be the slimeball that Bill had been to me. _#notallvampires_.

"Never tell anyone. If vampires know you can hear them, absolutely nothing will save you, do you understand? I should be killing you outright."

"Then why not?" Now I was pissed. He didn't have to make threats, especially ones he wouldn't make good on. All of this protection for me had been decided without my input anyway. If he was truly going to end me, he should get it over with. I wrenched myself away from him, standing up. He rose with me, keeping his body close to mine with his sharp expression boring into me. "Why not Eric? Why the hell not! You care for me and I don't know why!"

"I don't know why I do either Sookie." He relaxed and looked at me appraisingly, then summoned his usual arrogant leer. "Maybe I want to taste you first."

 _And we're back to our regularly scheduled program of "Eric Northman is a total pervert dick head!"._

"Why should I let you feed on me." My loins clenched at the thought as the words tumbled from my mouth. I _wanted_ him to feed on me, like he did in my dreams. I wanted to believe it felt as good as it had then.

"You need me. I want to protect you and give you more blood so we can bond. And I'm hungry. Now."

"Go get someone in your bar then. You've got so many to choose from, you surely don't need me." There was no reason to fight him, but I kept doing so out of habit.

"I cannot leave given that the Queen is assuredly sending more vampires to claim you. And I want you. I can give you some of what I take after. My blood is more potent so I need more from you, but you need less from me to feel better."

"Giving me your blood a second time?"

He laughed. "No. A third time."

The bullets.

 _I think she will like this. I know I will. It will be good to be around a human who stands up to vampires, including me. No one will know what to do with her when they meet her given that she's not your run-of-the-mill human and it's an unknown what she is otherwise. I've never been one to be risk averse, only disinterested in positions of power. I think bonding with her and seeing what happens after will be pleasant. The most interesting thing I've done or felt in centuries._

My face tightened and I stepped back.

"What? Did you hear me again?"

"Yes." I said softly.

"Then you know I don't wish to hurt you."

"I know. I feel like an object though. Entertainment, even. And do you expect me to... I don't know, what's the vampire equivalent of dating?" Eric laughed throatily and hugged me. He didn't seem like the hugging type, but here he was encapsulating me in his arms.

"There is no 'dating' for vampires. You can call what we have a 'relationship'. If you want to use the word 'boyfriend' that's fine with me. But recognize it's more than that. I'll need submission from you regarding my interactions with other vampires. You can't be wildly outspoken with them, just sassy. Eventually you will need to yield to me. Your virginity has a scent and if others notice it on you, I will be considered weak."

"That's not yours to have, Eric." I think I am lying. My body wants nothing more than to give in. Having never felt such strong feelings before I finally made the connection between all the sexual things others had thought and why they wanted to do them. Now I wanted to do them, to Eric. With Eric.

"But it is if we're bonded. What's stopping us anyway? I will take care of you. I am a fair master and partner Sookie. Punishing to those who deserve it, but fair. I won't hurt you unless you directly threaten me or mine without good reason. And even then, the punishment fits the crime." His smile told me that he would enjoy punishing me, immensely.

"Can you command me like Pam?"

"Not entirely no. You won't be able to harm me, and it would be difficult for me to want to harm you. It's not impossible, but you'll feel me, and I'll feel you. I can block you out if I so choose, but it's uncomfortable to feel bereft of a bond."

"Ok." This was it. Niall had told me not to do this, but he wasn't here. I needed help, Eric was offering and he seemed like the lesser of all evils. "I'll feed you tonight, but I want time to think about the bond. Gran… I need to call the police." It was so embarrassing that my horniness had eclipsed my grief for Gran. I was horrified when I thought about the fact that she was only a few feet away, lying on the ground. Dead without dignity.

"We can't call. You know that."

It wasn't settling in that Gran was gone. When I saw her shot I was upset because something bad had happened to her. But now I was expecting her to come out of the kitchen with some tea and ask if Eric and I wanted any. My mind flicked back and forth between irrational expectation and what was real.

Eric scooped me up and cradled me gently as we went up the stairs. I closed my eyes so I wouldn't see Gran's body and I was back in my bed, unrestrained. It was sudden, but there was no more fight left in me and I wanted him. He was kissing my body, running has hands on my hips and up to my stomach. No one had ever kissed me anywhere before. Certainly not even on the lips, which is where he went next. I cried then with shame at finding enjoyment in such a terrible time and place. My lust for Eric invited guilt.

"No tears Sookie. You deserve to be treated well and you've done nothing wrong. In fact, you've done everything you could. The kindness and strength you possess makes you an immeasurably special creature."

He thought me a treasure and I wanted to believe everything he was saying about me, but he was wrong because I'd failed Gran. His mouth was alternating between devouring me and teasing me to react to him. It worked; he repeated his methods until I caught on and mirrored his lips. I could hear myself moan and then I flushed with embarrassment. A small laugh escaped him as he pushed his left hand and arm under my back to lift me up to him.

"Where?"

"Where what?" I said dazedly, forgetting again my pain and loss.

"Can I have you here," his finger trailed along my neck, "here," down to my breast, "or here," settling on my femoral artery.

"Definitely not my breast!" Give in, just give in Sookie.

His laugh was deep and imperious. "Neck then?"

Why couldn't he just feed from my wrist so I could avoid all of these feelings? I guess there'd be puncture holes there though.

"No. Femoral artery. But if you so much as kiss, lick or touch anything you are not supposed to I will try my best to brain you. Got it?" I'll be damned if there would be bite marks on my neck. Eric was just the kind of guy who would mark his territory that way. _Want that. Want everyone to know I'm his._ My body needed to shut the fuck up right now.

"Yes dear." He pretended to simper in his cocky manner before moving down to slide his fangs into the inside of my leg. In my childhood I'd been to the doctor once that I could remember. I had a few shots during that time. They all hurt far less than the little pinch I felt.

It was pleasant; warmth suffused my body starting from the spot where Eric's lips were clamped down. He was groaning as he pushed his left arm down and hugged my hips while turning his face further inward to my thigh. I suddenly saw Eric and I naked in my bed. I was on my knees and he was behind me with a hand wrapped up in my hair and his other gripping around my waist while he…

"Eric. Out of my mind and bed! NOW!"

Eric's fangs popped out of my artery and he quickly licked the wound closed before vamp-speeding his way up to my face. His smile confirmed that he had relayed a personal fantasy of his to me.

"You taste amazing. If you weren't completely innocent regarding sex, I would have… what do you say, 'tapped that'? A long time ago. You deserve better than an after-battle-fuck, however much my thoughts may seem to tell you otherwise. Would it sound insincere if I say I couldn't control having that thought of you?"

"Yes it does actually. Now out."

He was now standing at the edge of my bed, with his head tilted as if he was listening to something in the distance for only a second before my door whooshed open and closed. No more Eric.

***Eric***

Her blood was like draining 10 humans in a row for satiating the beast that was a vampire's hunger. Then there were all these other facets of it. I felt stronger than usual, my senses were amplified and I assumed this was true for my abilities as well. Then the taste. Indescribable in all of the great many languages I knew. I left the room at her request, but truly it was because I wanted to have all of her and it wasn't what she wanted. Yes, I smelled her arousal, but that is not consent and I have always needed that.

Pam's fear and anger swelled through our bond: _come._ Another contingent of fighters was here, and it was all vampire. _At least none of those UV Silver bullets would be used. It would be too easy to hit the wrong target._

I landed by Pam's side seconds after she sent for me. Thalia turned to look and gave me a face full of fang. The Queen's favorite child stepped out of the darkness to face me. Pam, LongShadow and Thalia backed up to prepare for the next wave.

"Eric." Andre held out his arms as a gesture of reconciliation.

"Andre." I wasn't moving.

"We had sent a few vampires to obtain and protect an asset in the area yesterday and it seems they are nowhere to be found. Fearing the worst, we sent a contingent of human day guards to secure the area. They too are missing. So. I am here to find out where my Queen's soldiers are as well as her… asset. Do you have any idea what may have happened Eric?"

"We had thought that these were rogue vampires who lead the Fellowship of the Sun troops to this location. I'm happy you have shown up." I blithely lied.

"Tsk, tsk. You know Northman, I have hated you for years. It's going to be a pleasure staking you."

Andre moved, but was lacking in age and ability. Many vampires thought their speed was a enough. But many vampires never had the chance to fight against other vampires extensively. I was around when there was no solid monarchy whatsoever in many places and fighting was constant and brutal between nests of vampires.

I knew that I was committing treason. Pam was there with me, and out of the corner of my eye I could see that Thalia had already sprung from her position to intercept the other vampires slinking out from behind the trees.

As Andre lunged, Sigebert and Wybert dove out from behind Andre with silver swords poised. I hadn't anticipated their arrival with Andre and it was a fatal mistake. _Can't say that I didn't try. Oh Sookie._ I thought before I met the True Death.

***Sookie***

When Eric left, I knew something was happening right this second. I jumped up from my bed. Darkness had fallen right before he showed up and while all seemed quiet before, I realized that there would be more combatants coming and that they would be vampires. _Time to give them a piece of my mind!_

Jason's rifle was in the closet outside my door in the hallway. I had trained with it until I could shoot at a target Jason had once pinned in the tree line from the house. There was a small window at the end of the hallway that looked out on the lawn. It was always open in the summer, so I slipped my rifle into place.

I didn't expect to see anything. But instead of an empty yard, a cruel looking man stood before Eric sneering. There were feelings of determination and will to fight that filled me as I cocked the rifle and aimed. My eyesight was clearer than it had ever been as I focused on my target; I was sure I would strike home.

The scene unfolding before me was quick, but I could track every movement. The bullet wouldn't be enough. Eric had three on one though he didn't know it yet. I wasn't going to get to him in time. _No! Eric!_

***Eric***

A small arm gripped me and I felt a gut wrenching pull. My eyes hadn't shut and I'd noticed the arm was small and feminine as it pulled me away. _Sookie._

She looked at me with fear and then happiness from her porch which we were now standing on. _You saved me?_ I thought. _How?_

"You bet your A+ ass I did! I don't know how."

Reality came back with a vengeance as Andre and the berts wasted no time lunging at our new position. We were inside before they slammed on the threshold of the door much in the same way as Pam had.

"Give her up Eric. The Queen wants her abilities. I can smell her from here and I think I'll be the one to bond her and have everything else." Andre's lips curled and he looked like a cat who had gotten his cream.

***Sookie***

At that moment, I saw what Eric was talking about. There were vampires who had zero respect for human life and had no problem with forcible bonding, glamouring, rape or killing them. In my mind I had this dichotomy of thought where if someone had asked me what vampires were capable of I would have said all of the above. But when it came to my ability to deal with the threat of them, I was biased in favor of thinking I could find a way out and keep myself safe. Always had been since meeting Bill.

Armed with my realization that it was do or die when it came to facing the pursuit of vampires, I went with my gut. With zero hesitation I kissed Eric and rubbed my hand down his crotch. I let go as Eric's fangs dropped and turned around holding my hair away from my neck. "Bite, Eric." The ugly vampire who threatened to rape me was gawking at me with open lust. Eric didn't hesitate and he grabbed my hair from my hands and pulled my head back towards him causing me to fall back on his chest with my back arched. Then he bit down. I assumed his eyes were locked with the other vampire's, signaling his victory.

 _That's right, watch me take what's mine. Don't even bother paying attention to Pam and Thalia._

Eric's thoughts were accurate in that the three vampires were crowded at the front door. The bert's weren't looking as lasciviously as Andre, but they were distracted. And if the scene they were viewing wasn't good enough to keep their eyes locked to it, Eric fixed that by reaching around and taking a single finger to my shirt, slicing it from neck to groin. I didn't know if I would object if he took me right here or not.

***Eric***

It was one of most difficult things I had done as recently as 500 years to not bend Sookie over right there in front of Sophie-Anne's children. But duty calls. I saw Andre's eyes burning with pure hatred, almost crazed with his inability to stop my drinking of Sookie. The Berts turned to meet the impending threat, but it was too late. Thalia and Pam engaged them and I rushed Andre. He turned to run the moment after I had let go of Sooke and I vamped towards him. With a satisfying rip, I tossed his head down the porch onto Sookie's lawn. The Berts had quickly recovered and Pam was barely dodging Wybert's swings while Thalia was taking chunks of flesh off of Sigebert. With Pam and I on Wybert, his guard couldn't hold and it wasn't in his nature to flee.

It was easy latching onto his back, but he had a metal contraption on his neck that helped protect him from decapitation. Andre had foolishly been wearing nothing of the sort. Instead I took my hand and plunged it into Wybert's back, reaching for the vampire's spine. My fingers fit perfectly between the grooves of his vertebrae and I pulled back as I launched off his back. His spinal cord jerked his head back before it broke at the point where it met the neckguard. It was enough for Pamela to thrust her sword up into Wybert's neck, finishing the job.

Sigebert's training wasn't enough to stop him from attempting to save his brother, and it was his fatal mistake. Thalia snatched his head off his shoulders and held it while the head and both of the Bert's bodies melted into blood and ash.

"Pam, report."

"The only old ones were Sophie-Anne's children. All the rest were new and are now dead."

Pam and I both turned to look at Sookie standing in her bra and pants decorated with blood. Pam's fangs dropped and I could feel a twinkle of desire in our bond that I had come to know as "share?".

"Pam, head to Fangtasia, then home." She looked wistfully at Sookie before vamping off. Thalia looked at me briefly before leaving with Longshadow and Pam.

"You think there will be no more attacks?"

"Not in the upcoming days with Sophie-Anne's children being killed, no."

All in all we had lost all of our baby vampires, and at least 10 Weres, but we'd destroyed every last vampire and human amongst them. No one would be there to report to Sophie-Anne. I smiled at the thought of her doubled over in pain at the loss of her children.

"But there will be, right Eric?" I turned and looked at the sexy mess that was Ms. Stackhouse. A sight for sore eyes.

"Sookie." Bill was there on the porch, given that the battle had ended. "I know you have no reason, none, to trust me. But I can help protect you. You should stay at my place to be nearest your home."

"Back off Bill." He turned to face me.

"Eric, I know I have done her a great disservice, and I wish to make that up to her."

"You can't make it up Bill! You tried to use me, and now everything is fucked and Gran is dead!" Sookie shrieked and wrapped herself around her grandmother's body, having just left the daze of the rest of the night's events. Bill was mute with red rimmed eyes. Alcide slithered out from the bushes shifting back into human form.

"Eric, all the human bodies are disposed of in the swamp. We should consider what to do next with the house."

All three of us were watching Sookie's tears over her grandmother.

"Bill. Andre and the Berts are dead. We wiped out a large contingent of vampires as well as multiple day personnel armed with silver tipped UV light bullets. You wouldn't happen to know anything about the latter?"

"Not the latter exactly. Sophie-Anne has invested in industries that are creating weapons to kill or maim vampires. It wasn't something heavily discussed in court. Andre was managing this, as he did a great many aspects of the kingdom." Bill looked slightly hopeful as he crossed the line between playing the odds to siding with me and mine.

"Alcide. What do you recommend regarding the house?" I knew the answer, but I wanted to see if he had come to the same conclusion.

"Burn it."

"No! You are not burning my house! You will fix it! Call the police and tell them how you brought all of this here. You both have fucking ruined my life! You should be ashamed!"

"Sookie! You don't want to hear this, I know. But your telepathy is part of why this happened. Now your Gran kept you as safe as possible but she likely knew what you were. And she seemed to know the how and why. This was bound to happen. Maybe in a year, more. But someone would have come for you. All things considered, this has worked out in your favor. I can call the police right now, but what would we say? If you said this was random they wouldn't believe you. And then they'd run you out of town Sookie."

"You don't know that Eric." Sookie's voice was hoarse.

"I know vampires Sookie. Someone would have come for you. Be glad that I was able to keep you away from the Queen."

I hated watching her cry, especially if my words were the cause. She was huddled against her Gran's body trying to shrink herself against it. Alcide bent to pick up his shirt that he left at the front steps and with a pointed look at me went to cover her body. Leaving her with the Were was an annoyance, but Bill and I needed to have a little chat.

"Alcide, make sure she gets showered and ready. Bill if you would be so kind," I gestured toward the graveyard wanting to converse.

"Of course." We vamped to the gravestones.

"Eric, I am not asking you to make what I've done better with Sookie. But I do want a chance to be kind to her in the future, if I am King. Sookie will never be held against her will by me, that I can promise. "

"I am holding you to that, and your Kingship forfeit should you attempt to detain her. Whether she forgives you or not is her business." Bill nodded and looked relieved.

"What are the next steps Eric?"

"We storm Sophie-Anne's court. You will follow behind and stake Sophie-Anne once she has been subdued. "

"I must remind you that Lorena has never released me."

"She's coming to meet me shortly." It was 3:30 am now. Lorena was likely almost here and had secured a place to stay for the night. I knew well enough to not offer her a hotel, or she'd suspect the purpose of my having her visit. "Act surprised if she decides to stop by."

Bill vamped out with a terrified look on his face. I tilted my head to hear the water running in Sookie's house. In 5 seconds I was inside her room looking at Alcide. The Were looked exhausted and had his head in his hands as he sat on Sookie's bed.

"Eric."

"Alcide."

"She's in there, as you gathered. Take care of her Northman. Be as kind as a vampire can be." The Were looked up at me, begging with his eyes.

"I will Alcide." I should have scraped his face off his skull for his impudence, but not in Sookie's room. She would not be pleased. Alcide walked out with his fists clenched and lumbered down the stairs.


	10. Chapter 10

***Alcide***

Overall not that many Weres had died. The ones that did would have their families receive ample settlements from Eric. Northman had spared no expense in defending Sookie as quickly as he could assemble a fighting unit. His child Pam had been there, along with Thalia and Longshadow. While I didn't know what was going on entirely, it seemed that a lot of vampires wanted this girl. I wasn't sure how she was going to see it through the next couple of days if this was the kind of fuss she attracted in one night.

"Hello." An older man stood before him wearing a silver crown.

"Who the-"

"Silence." I couldn't speak. The man was a supe, and he had just cut off my voice with a gesture. I doubt Eric could do anything about him and he was probably here because of the battle. Sookie!

The other Weres took notice and started stalking the crowned man. A slice of light zipped through the air and the supe was gone.

"Eric!" I shouted, now having my voice back.

***Eric***

I heard the Were yell as I was laying on Sookie's bed. A hand reached out from the middle of the air and clamped around my throat, claws digging in and penetrating the skin with a burning sensation. The portal of light drew back to reveal Niall Brigant, Prince of the Sky Fae.

"Eric Northman. A pleasure." Niall removed his hand and stood looking down at me. "I wanted to make sure you didn't do something foolish like attack me, before you realized the mistake you would have made."

I carefully backed off of Sookie's bed, putting it between Niall and I. With my hands in the air I went to kneel before Niall, placing them on the ground.

"Your Majesty." My head was bowed low. If Niall was here, this was a bigger clusterfuck than I had ever imagined. Sophie-Anne and the state of Louisiana? Sure, anyday. Prince of the motherfucking Sky Fae, ie: an entire species of fae? No. A thousand times no. Alcide stomped up the stairs and whipped the door open.

"Down Alcide! Take to your fucking knee." The large Were put the brakes on his momentum and his mouth gaped at the sight of me kow towing to the Fae. Alcide wasn't stupid, and he immediately dropped down to assume the same position as myself.

The shower turned off and all of our eyes gravitated towards the door. The light in the bathroom flipped off and Sookie stepped out with wet hair, a tank top and pink fluffy pajama pants. Her eyes surveyed the room from Alcide to me and finally rested on Niall.

***Sookie***

"Hello Niall. Have you met my new friends? They've been protecting me while you weren't here." If my voice was accusing, it was meant to be. "Why are they bowing to you?"

Eric practically cowered. It was not attractive. Alcide looked as if he would crawl out of the room on his belly if he could. Niall had a cross between a self-satisfied and charming smile pasted on his face. And he was wearing a crown. _"I have the biggest dick in the room." La di frickin' da._

"Wolf, you may leave. Eric, stand." Alcide quietly shut the door and Niall looked back to me.

"You know what Niall? I make the rules here since this is my house. As far as I am concerned you're responsible for the death of Gran and all of these vampires coming after me. Gran called you thinking you could help. And you had the opportunity my whole life to be there for me, and yet you only show up yesterday and answer none of my questions. Not a one. I ask for help, you leave me in someone else's care. I have been chewed up and spit out and I am sick and tired of doing it on my own. I've had to do things to survive that I hope I do not regret."

I took a breath and prepared myself for another tirade. Niall was glaring daggers at me and his face had changed to become angular, and his skin was blue. Blue.

I didn't really hold him responsible for Gran's death. I was the guilty party, but I was just so… mad. So many different things could have happened besides this.

"Looks like I am making you mad enough to show me what you really are."

"Enough of your temper child." Light flicked from his fingers and circled like a frisbee towards my face. I raised my arm and smacked it away as it came near. _What the hell was that?_

"If we're going to have an all out family brawl why don't we go into the living room so I can practice throwing china at your face." Niall had changed even further. He wasn't an older looking man anymore and he definitely didn't look human. Silvery claws were in the place of his fingers and he positively glowed with light that made his face look sharper with small shadows under his cheeks. His skin took on a sparkle and light started swirling over his palms with his claws caging it in as it spun.

"You are a true daughter of my line, but do not imagine for a second that I wouldn't decimate you should you raise a hand to me."

"She's right. If she was of your line, why was she so ill-protected?" Eric came to my defense, and it earned him some Sookie-points.

"Silence vampire!" I wanted to be in front of Eric to protect him, and I was. The light Niall shot at Eric crashed into me and then blipped out of existence. My great-grandfather's face flickered from shock to rage as he launched himself at me, his light turning into tendrils that reached towards me. They grasped my wrists first and then bound themselves around every part of my body but my head. I could feel a push through the air and I was pinned to the wall next to my bedroom door. Niall apparated to be in front of me as I had done with Eric. Niall laughed and it was unsettling.

"You've got it! None of my halfling sons or their children had it the way you do, but here you are." He stroked my cheek gently and possessively.

"I don't really care what you think it is that I 'got', but I ain't staying put while you're trying to kill Eric and I." _Since when did I get so defensive of Eric? Oh, probably because he was the only one who hadn't_ lied.

"You don't have choices at this time my darling true-child."

 _Oh yeah? The fuck I don't._ I flexed against the light bonds and felt them loosen slightly. A searing sensation traveled down the length of my body. It was intense, hot, and it was reacting angrily to the light wrapped around me. Still not enough; the bonds were not as tight but weren't sliding off either. _More. Where do I get more energy._ My concentration lowered my shields and I thought I saw Niall encased in light with a spinning galaxy at his core, while Eric was a black void with a small white flame.

Niall was hovering in front of me, his face only a foot away from mine. I got a better look at his mouth and wished I hadn't. It looked like the inside of a shark's, with layers of teeth sitting behind the other. All silver with no rhyme or reason as to where they were angled. The bones of his face were pushing at his thin blue skin. His chin, cheekbones and jawline were carved into sharp lines. The brow bone was also sharp and continued out towards his ears, curving and tapering up towards his hairline. It was the first time I noticed his ears were also pointed, and that silver antlers were growing from the top of his head.

I boosted my push against at the bonds. What I was pushing with, I didn't really know but it felt right. The burning sensation on my entire body was reaching a fever pitch and had morphed into cold, like sticking your hand under water that is far too hot for you to register that you've done so until it burns like hell. The light around me flared pink now, with notes of red swirling up the coils of light like blood being dripped into a glass of water.

Niall faltered. While he was terrifying in every sense of the word, he was also glorious. His crown had risen up to coil around his horns and his eyes were a white blue with slits like a cat.

Niall was blasted backwards as the bonds broke, righting himself quickly, hovering over the ground. He barked a laugh, his face returning to a state of smugness.

Eric was struggling with some invisible problem. "Eric?"

"Our scent is driving him mad. I will show you how to mask it."

"You just pinned me to a wall and you want to come near me and give me something?"

"Sookie, it is natural for our kind to test each other in power. I wouldn't have killed you and I am not angry."

"I'll do it, but only if you tell me what I am." I had truly lost it letting him come near me.

"Very well, True-daughter mine. You are fae and royalty."

"When were you going to tell me that? Before I forced your hand?" Royalty in the middle of a small Louisiana town? No way. Fairy? Less way.

"When you came into your power, which it looks like you've done a good job of doing. You are a treasure."

"I certainly don't feel like one." Eric had turned away trying to maintain his control.

Niall's pointer finger lit up with light and he walked over holding it up so I could see.

"Press your finger to mine." I did so and I felt something rearrange itself inside of me.

"Now hold that. It will feel uncomfortable at first, but it is necessary."

Eric breathed a sigh of relief.

"I suppose I will not stop you true-child from having your pet vampire. I can deny you very few things." I didn't think he was saying that out of love. Upon examining my wrist I noticed that I had claws too, though not as long or distended as Niall's. Were they sharp? I cut my wrist open with one nail and thick red blood started pouring out before the wound healed up. _A little deep._

"I see that you took more blood. Don't make the mistake of bonding to this one Sookie. I will return to you with someone to help train your abilities. In the mean time, your appearance has changed to look more like what you are, fae. Focus on calming yourself and you will return to looking like a simple human again."

Niall sliced through his portal and was gone.

Eric closed the gap between us. "We need to talk." _We're not dating and those are still the four worst words to hear._

"I'm exhausted and I have nowhere to stay. I can't stay with Bill, and I can't tip off my friends or family."

"You can stay at one of my houses then. But first we need to talk about what happened. "

"Is this really the time to be doing this Eric?"

"Sookie. You are not aware of what you look like right now. Your hands are silver tipped claws and your teeth have taken on a similar shade. And your skin, it shimmers silver. Lastly you have delicate white horns sprouting from your silvered hair that has tiny bells weaved into it. Or have you not heard them tinkling as you've been moving?"

I was in shock. Running to the bathroom, I flipped on the light and put a hand over my mouth. Eric was right. I could sort of see myself in the person I saw in the mirror. Eric came in behind me and put his hands on my shoulders.

"Sookie, I will take care of you. My house was designed for humans. I've only modified it to house a vampire. Otherwise you would find everything to your liking. But we do need to have that chat."

He started gently toying with my hair, smelling it and purring. Not that I cared at that moment. I thought about what to do, tapping my super sharp, super long claws on the sink. They were really quite scary.

"If you burn the house, and I'm found with you, isn't that suspicious?" I asked.

"You'll be safe with me."

"I need to be with someone I know who can vouch for me if need be."

"Who do you suggest?"

"My boss, Sam. He's a shifter." Eric's hands tightened over my shoulders.

"You can't be away from me."

"And you can't be there during the day."

Eric turned and looked out into my bedroom. I could see his struggle, and the moment where reasoning won out over his desire for me.

"You can't call him. I'll take you there and we'll wake him up."

"Thank you Eric."

"Let's leave." The tall vampire was now cold and stiff. Given that I had rejected staying with him, I could understand.

"I'll grab my things. I can't take anything from my childhood can I? Pictures, baby clothes, nothing?"

"Nothing that would be recognizable by others later, no. And we only have time for a few things. Small things."

Eventually, one day, I would tell Jason what happened. I didn't want to leave all of these memories here, but I had to.

"What do you think I should take then?"

"Your grandmother's jewelry and any precious heirlooms that you can carry."

The stairs were empty of Gran's body; someone had moved it. Probably Alcide. First I ran to her room. It looked the same as it always had, and from the inside it seemed like nothing was wrong anywhere else. I didn't have time to throw myself on her bed and breath in her scent and pretend this wasn't happening. Instead I grabbed a necklace of pearls and Gran's wedding ring. My room had the green jewel Gran had given me in my mostly empty jewelry box. The jewel looked like two Jade oreos sandwiched together with a gold seal along where the two stones met. I hadn't looked before, having been focused on Gran at the time.

Eric was still brooding, looking out the window. I snatched my purse, cell phone and keys, shoving the necklace, ring and jade stone in my purse.

"Ready Eric." He said nothing and started walking down the hall to the stairs. I followed behind him tentatively, taking in the damage from the bullet holes. I was numb. This was my life's funeral and I barely took anything with me into what felt like the death of who I was.

We stepped through the door and I left a lot of what that house meant to me inside of it. My new life greeted me in the form of yet another vampire.

***Eric***

"Hello Lorena." She hadn't changed a bit with her dark long hair, sultry eyes and sadistic mien. Her relationship with Bill hadn't altered either; she had a stake pressed precariously to his heart.

"Eric, I thought you invited me for pleasure and not business." Lorena's eyes reached Sookie and she whipped away the stake held to Bill's chest in fear. Bill stared with mouth agape, not realizing Lorena had dropped the thing that kept him trapped in her arms.

"Tell me what that is Eric." Lorena's eyes dilated, staring at Sookie in her now half-transformed state.

"Neither she nor what she is are mine to divulge or give Lorena. If you wish to challenge her, be my guest. I ask that you release Bill to us and no harm will come to you. If you do not, you can be assured that it will."

"Never the mind. Bill coughed up the contents of your plan. The only vampires alive who knows the majority of Sophie-Anne's sins are Waldo and Bill. Guess who won't be living through this conflict? You intended to make Bill King, but I've decided I want to be Queen. So as your future Queen, hand over that creature or your evidence against Sophie-Anne dies and you and yours become traitors."

I looked at Sookie. I was afraid to mention to her that her fae appearance had not fully retracted itself back into her person.

"There is no way you will be allowed to be Queen with your backwater views on mainstreaming." I hissed at Lorena and then addressed Sookie. "Any chance of a repeat performance of what went on in your bedroom? " Her eyes narrowed and she turned to face Lorena.

"You want me to handle this?"

"Yes. Because you can. And you need to learn to in order to survive. Plus, watching you fight is hot."

"Does she deserve it Eric?" She ignored my taunt and her eyes told me that she wanted a reason to justify Lorena's death.

"Deserve death? There is no "deserve" you stupid creature." Lorena butted in. She turned to Eric. "Humans are nothing Eric. They have nothing of value to offer but their blood. This mainstreaming behavior is farcical. And we owe no allegiance to anyone but other vampires, and even then. Especially not to whatever the fuck that is standing next to you."

I ignored Lorena again in favor of Sookie. "She is probably the sole reason Bill is as broken as he is. Without her tutelage, he never would have done what he did to you. As for her, she's been a stake away from death for centuries given the trail of bodies she leaves behind wherever she goes. Human bodies, and so many of them."

"You're not going to hurt me or let her hurt me?"

"Your Grandfather would kill me. I won't fail to mention that my death would not be swift."

***Sookie***

I centered myself. _Ok, accept this. That house behind you, that's all over. This isn't your place anymore and you need to buck up Sookie Stackhouse._ I loved Jason, but I knew in my heart he was not like me. No one I had met but Niall was. Even the vampires were closer to being "like me" than I was to other people, now. Eric and I were both chasing the same carrot more or less, freedom from tyranny, but we may not be in the future if Lorena had her way. Eric didn't exactly have my back, but the enemy of my enemy was my friend. I trusted that Eric wanted Lorena dead and honestly she sounded like she needed to be. She'd probably killed hundreds, if not thousands. Well, Eric probably had killed that many too. I'd have to think about that fact later. Personally, I'd never been judge jury and executioner before. Even though I had good cause to be, given what I knew from other's thoughts.

I wondered if this was the new side of me that was allowing me to rationalize what I was about to do, or if I had reached my limit of what was tolerable and wanted to right the wrongs I had seen day after day. It was within my power to kill this vampire, I could feel it. And I was probably the best person do to it given that Lorena clearly thought my attacking her was a joke.

When I gave it serious thought about actually going through with what Eric suggested, I could feel the heat of light inside me agree that this was right, this was good. _Do it._ It said. Sookie the human was a heap of tears in the background of my mind, unable to find the gumption to protect the doomed vampire Lorena.

"Ok Bill, I ain't doing this for you, just so you know." He wanted to be king evidently and I wasn't going to let him think I gave a rat's ass about him.

I started "pushing", like I had when I was wrapped with light. Lorena's face became a rictus of fear and she vamped away. I took chase by instinctively apparating behind Lorena mid-run, wrenching her hair back and slamming her to the ground. I could feel Eric vamp behind me. With my hand still buried in her hair and using it to keep her head down, I opened my hand wide over Lorena's face. My claws were so long, and the light emanating from my palms caused her face to singe.

"You fucking bitch! I'll fucking kill you! I'll have Bill rape you while I watch! Bill-" I clamped my hand over her mouth, feeling her face burn underneath it. Her hands were wrapped around the hand in her hair, her fingers burning when she touched my claws, and she wailed like a stuck pig behind the seal on her lips. Watching and hearing her scream about what she'd do to me and how she was about to command her child to attack me, I believed what she said. She meant it. She'd do it to me, to a million other women and not have an ounce of compunction. Without another thought, I took my hand out of her dark locks and dug two of my claws into each of her eyes, pushing into her head until her hands went slack around my wrist. She screamed underneath me, until she didn't. I pinned her head down while she dissolved. The bones underneath of her eyes caved and the pressure on my fingers blew away with the wind.

When I stood to face Eric, he was smirking at me as if he was privy to some inside joke.

***Eric***

Someone had taken the innocent girl in a sundress and replaced her with a battle maiden. And that someone was Niall. Perhaps he also knew she could defend herself and didn't need help or from me.

Bill vamped over, his ruffled clothing having been smoothed out and the rest of his person put back into order. He looked like he was in a vast amount of pain.

"Thank you Sookie. Words cannot express my gratitude. I am in your debt." Sookie nodded at him absentmindedly. He continued, "I understand this may be sensitive, but as your future King I need to be on the same page. What exactly are you and would you be willing to help remove Sophie-Anne from the throne. Keep in mind she is your biggest threat at this time."

"I killed Lorena yes, but I don't really know anything about these powers. I don't think I can be relied on. And I don't want to discuss what I am."

"I think you can be relied on Sookie. Should you wish to keep your secrets, that is your prerogative." I said. Clearly her manifestation of powers were related to stress and adversity.

"Ok, I will ask you again Sookie, when this is over. Eric." Bill brushed off what Sookie had said and took his leave.

"All of what I value will burn." She looked distant and unfocused. Her body was starting to shift back into human form, slowly.

"Yes. I understand this hurts, but they are only things."

"They are only things."

I wasn't sure that it was altogether good that Sookie was willing to let her home go so easily. Her change to being fae had likely altered her mental state. How much, I had no idea.

***Sookie***

Eric took me flying, which was a heady experience. I wondered if I could do it someday. It seemed there wasn't that much of a limit on what I could do if I could hold my own with a vampire. There was a certain peace regarding Gran's death. It was inevitable and Gran had died trying to protect me in the best way she knew how. If it hadn't been a bullet, I had to realize that it would have been a heart attack or dying in her sleep. I would have to find a way to not use the excuse that she had been shot as a way to blame myself. I needed to to acknowledge that her time had been coming to an end in this life, like she had told me.

It was almost sunrise and I would have to stay up to wait for the call from the police. Sam would be with me though. But I couldn't tell anyone besides him. If I were to try I suppose I would with Tara first and see where it went. I wanted to know that I would be loved even if I was different. More different than before. Otherwise staying was meaningless. There was nothing left for me but Sam, Jason, Tara, my job. All of my life I had been dealing with jealousies, fears, envy, and hatred from many people in Bon Temps because of my telepathy. Adding what new things I had found out about myself to the pile made living here almost impossible without their support.

I had to think carefully about Eric. Thus far he had proven to be available, honest, reasonable, but also full of himself. I suppose I would be too if I was the most powerful vampire in the state. While I did not know much about Eric, I had to admit I liked a lot of what I had seen besides his arrogance. Actions speak louder than words and he had provided a guard, defended me from certain death and revealed a plot to ensnare me all at his own expense and without the need to do so. He could have let Sophie-Anne and Bill have me. Maybe it was his way of having the upper hand. The world of vampires seemed to have a lot of showboating when it came to politics and hierarchy.

"We're here. Are you sure you want to stay with him?"

"Yes. But how did you know where he lived even?"

"He's a supe. I know where they all live because it's my business to know." Eric looked irritated as he walked away from where he had put me down and banged on the door of Sam's trailer loudly. He waited about ten seconds and did it again.

"Jeez, what the hell it's almost sunrise, who is knocking at- Eric?"

"You will take care of Sookie until I return tomorrow night. And you were with her all night, as much as the idea of that disgusts me. Understand?"

"Yeah, yeah sure!" Sam peeked over Eric's shoulder and his jaw slackened. I probably looked like a wreck and I was still part fae, fluctuating my hair, hands and facial features. It was a strange feeling as they warped my skin. Ridges on my face and the lengthening of my fingers were a pulsation that ebbed and flowed.

"Don't touch her. Do you hear me shifter?"

"Yes. I understand."

"Sookie, we will have our _conversation_ tomorrow." Eric turned away and flew into the night.

"Sookie."

"Sam."

He put his hand behind his head and rubbed it through his hair, a tic of Sam's. It made me feel better, like things could be normal again.

"I'm not sure I should ask what happened."

"I'd say don't ask, but there are some things I do need to tell you."

"Come in Sook. We can start with why you look the way you do and why you smell like vampire, dead vampire and Were." Sam turned and gestured me to come in looking exasperated. I had never been in Sam's trailer, and thankfully it was clean and tidy. I sat down on his couch while he leaned on the wall that probably led to his bedroom.

"Gran is dead Sam! And I'm fae. I look like this because I'm fae, and I don't really have an idea of what that even means besides, well, this! And everything that's happened to me tonight, and Gran's death, and in the past couple of days is because of that."

"Ah cher." He sat next to me and put his arm around me, ignoring the strangeness of my body. "It's going to be ok. You'll figure all this out." His stroking my hair gently reminded me of Gran's last minutes. "How did she go?"

"She took a bullet to the chest and died at the front of the stairs." He pulled away from me in shock and anger, his thoughts a judgemental and disappointed tangle.

"What? Sookie, why aren't you with the police? What is wrong with you!"

"You know what Sam? Last night some vampires came to take me. Eric's vampires fought them off. The Were you smelled in the woods? They were there to protect me during the day. And tonight they hit harder. My house and my life are destroyed! And Gran died because of that! Because of me and what I am!" I gestured down at myself. The changes had slowed and my hands were looking more human with my fingernails being in place instead of claws, but they were still vaguely silver. "I would have died too Sam." I finished softly.

"Sookie I am so sorry. But we have to call the police…"

"My house is burning down as we speak. Everything I own is gone."

Sam opened his mouth and then closed it. Again he rustled his hair on the back of his head and walked over to get some water.

"Here." He handed me a glass.

"Sam, Jason or someone is going to call me to break the news. That's why Eric said that as far as you were concerned, I've been here the whole night."

"Oh christ! Sookie, I can't lie to the law enforcement of this town! I already have to be so careful to not be found out, I can't believe Eric put me in this fucking position." Sam got up and banged his hand on one of his kitchen cabinets and pressed his forehead against it.

I was dragging everyone down with my problems, including Sam. Forcing him to lie, forcing Jason to live a lie about how Gran died, never being able to tell Tara. Just because these people may love me, doesn't mean I wouldn't hurt them again and again. I was the person who the blame rested solely on. My telepathy and my not being human was probably a death sentence to those around me. Why had I thought that I could stay?

"Well, thanks for the offer of hospitality Sam, but I think I will pass." I stood to leave and Sam reached out and grabbed my arm before pulling it away and cursing.

"Sookie, your skin just burned my hand, did you feel that?"

"No, but I'd like to leave now."

"Eric will end my existence if you leave."

"Then I will do my best to help you by not letting Eric hurt you." Instinctively I put my hand up in front of me and willed something to happen. A misty puff of light pushed out from my palm into Sam's face and he fell down in a heap. I didn't think he was dead, but I checked to make sure. After finding his pulse I looked for a pen and paper and found it at a small desk he had in the front of the trailer.

 _Eric,_

 _Before you do anything to Sam, it isn't his fault. I knocked him out and left of my own accord. There was nothing he could have done, as I used something I didn't know I had._

 _If it somehow comes to light that I died in that fire, that's probably for the best._

 _\- Sookie_

I made my message cryptic so that only Eric would know what I meant about using my power. I started in on the next one.

 _Sam,_

 _I am sorry for what I did and what you will find that I've done when you wake. I will pay you back. Don't tell Jason and Tara. Let them think the fire took me._

 _\- Sookie_

Regretfully I grabbed Sam's truck key off of its ring. Sunrise had started peeking over the horizon as I walked out of Sam's trailer. It would have seemed like a taunt if I had put into the letters "don't look for me." Because they no doubt would anyway. The car's engine rolled over several times before sputtering into life.


	11. Chapter 11

I made my way to Dallas, pulling into a gas station on the outskirts of the city. There I found a phone book and looked up the number for the SSS, Supernatural Science and Security, the United States government's answer to the vampire's coming out. When I decided to leave Bon Temp, determination overtook me and the rational part of my brain plotted out the step by step process I would need to stay alive and away from the devastation I'd left behind.

"Hello, is this SSS?"

"Yes, this is Richard speaking, how can I help you today?"

"I'm in a spot of trouble, with vampires and fae. I… I am part fae myself and looking for some kind of refuge. I have the beginnings of a bond, so I am afraid for my life and I am hoping you can help. There is another talent I have that I could maybe help your organization in some way, to repay any debt I should incur."

"Don't worry the government pays for these kinds of things. Where are you right now?"

"Gas station, a little east of Dallas."

"I'd like you to come to our home office here in Dallas. Part of our security detail is to break bonds and hide humans who have been taken by vampires in the past. Prosecuting them never works, so we do something like witness protection for these people." He sounded exasperated and sullen about vampires literally getting away with murder. With the instructions he gave me on how to get there we figured it would take me about an hour to reach it. I was exhausted but readily agreed because come nightfall I would be visited by an angry vampire or two, or three, or as many as it took to see me captured and enslaved.

I made it into Dallas and parked in front of a diminutive looking building. Not at all like what I thought it would be. I guess the funding wasn't great for SSS. When I walked in, a Were was sitting at the desk. Not a wolf, and I saw a flash of sleek tan fur and whiskers. A cougar perhaps? She was pretty, with dusky skin and sun highlighted blonde hair.

"How can I help you today?" She was cheery and happy, not at all what I expected from the secretary working at a branch of government. _They always come in so sad and broken. Hopefully we'll see this one smile soon. No matter the baggage, we can always help. I'm a perfect example._ I then got a flash of her being beaten and… raped. Repeatedly, by vampires.

Nothing as bad had ever happened to me, and here she was happy, joyous and free. She _cared_ and it was astonishing to me. She didn't judge me for showing up exhausted, desperate and with a sack of problems. The urge to be accepted into _this_ world, wanted even, overwhelmed me. Tears peaked out from the sides of my eyes.

"Honey, it's ok, you're home now. It may be temporary, but you're safe here. Promise!" The Were grabbed me in a strong hug and nuzzled her head to my neck in an almost too intimate gesture. But it was the right thing to do for me. I hadn't been held with love in what felt like so long, even if it had been less than a week.

"Thank you." I sniffled the words out. "Just. Thank you for being here."

"I am truly happy to give you comfort. Now who is your point of contact?"

"Richard."

"Ah! He did say he was expecting someone. Come with me." If I was expecting a normal office, I was dead wrong. There were metric tons of tiny shelves with bottles of random herbs, rocks, dust, and any number of strange things. The offices varied from an empty room with a concrete floor and chalk all over in concentric circles to shelves on all sides of the office with tightly pressed ancient looking books and manuscripts with the tiniest desk to create space for more books that were stacking up in front of the full shelves. I liked the one with sketches all over the wall of supernatural creatures. One in particular caught my eye as I recognized the outlines of a fae. It was different than I looked, with shorter fingers, sharp teeth without silver, no crown, horns or bells and strangely it had feathers on its arms, wide owl-like eyes and it was a dusky brown with downy feathers for hair. It's feet were that of a rooster's or even a bird of prey, with feathers trailing down to what looked like claws. _Bird fae? Whoa._ Then I noticed an object next to the bird on another sheet of paper. It was an owl and it was close in size to the fae. _That's its actual size. An honest to god owl-fae. Can fae be that small?_

"Gerald does such wonderful sketches. Don't you think?"

"Yes. I could look at them all day." She laughed in understanding.

"Hopefully soon you'll have all the time in the world! A couple more offices and we'll be at Richard's. Come along." Richard's office was a cross between artifacts and books, with clearly Gerald-made pictures of more fae above his desk.

"Ah! You've arrived safely. Thank you for escorting her Jenny." Jenny nodded and gave me one more grin and walked back to the front of the office. "Take a seat." He moved some papers off of an old chair with brown dusty padding and scuffed up metal legs. No budget indeed.

"I'm Sookie Stackhouse, and I'm super pleased to meet you." He shook my hand and turned around back and forth to look for something on his desk. Finding it, he pulled out a notepad with scribbles on several pages that he looked through before reaching a blank one.

"Richard, as you already know. You need a bond breaking and some amount of refuge until we can place you elsewhere. No family ties?"

"Well, wait now. Yes to the bond breaking, but I'd like to stay and help… maybe even work here?" Richard gave me a look that said 'tough luck'. "I know you're strapped for cash, but I have a skill you could use." He gave me a pointed look after the funding comment.

"We have half faeries, Weres, half demons and even vampires working for the SSS. And you're correct, we don't have that much money. So what is it that you can offer us?"

"I'm part fae. And I have telepathy. I can read minds of humans, Weres. Easily." Richard set his notepad down and got up to shut the door, looking around surreptitiously to ensure no one had heard us.

"You're serious." He said as he sat back down. "Tell me what I'm thinking now."

"You are counting to ten, now you're thinking of your favorite color, and now you're surprised that I knew."

"Amazing. Absolutely amazing. What are you that you have this? How long have you had it? Can you read vampires? How far is your range? Can you control minds? What about placing suggestions in the minds of others to do something?" The questions spewed out of him without compunction. He didn't seem to care in the slightest about my fae heritage.

"Not sure, all my life, no, haven't tested, don't think so, not that I know of." I remembered them all, whew. Richard jumped up from his seat again and started looking at his books.

"No, nothing in there about this, not that I think. Ask… Yes Octavia." He mumbled to himself. "Right." He turned around to face me as I sat in my chair, confused. Were there no other telepaths? "We'll break the bond today. You'll need to tell us how far along. You aren't being searched for by fae?"

"I don't know about the fae part. Probably though."

"Excellent, excellent." He grabbed the phone on his desk and dialed an extension. I did not see what was so excellent about being tracked by fae. Niall specifically. "Octavia, yes, we have a bond to break and it needs doing today. No, no, this needs to be done to-day. She's going to work with us, likely your team. Yes I thought your team was complete and full too, but you'll want her, I promise. I need a anti-fae tracking charm. Yes I know they're expensive and we only have one on hand. I promise a thousand times it _will_ be worth it."

 _Pulling out all the stops, I see._ Richard hung up the phone and was looking at me now like I was a prize gold-egg laying goose.

"Um. So, I take it no one else is a telepath that you know of?"

"There was one, but he was disposed of by vampires when he began to read them. If you should ever be able to read them, never tell. Not even us." Good thing I hadn't said a word about the fact that I could do it a little. At that moment I realized I could not tell them how "fae" I was either. There had been light coursing through my body since the time in my bedroom. It's thrum was a litany; it sat behind my thoughts and undulated. Reflexively I pulled the light back and crushed it into a small ball before metaphorically shutting it behind a door and locking it away. It was as gone as it could be, and I wished I had realized before that I had _that_ much self control over it.

"Ok, that makes sense. So when do we break the bond?" Richard looked up at the window next to his door.

"Right now." The door clicked open and a dark, short haired woman stepped through. She wore a robe that could only be described as Santería-esque. Strangely shaped stones draped about her neck, and when I reached out to touch her, she didn't feel completely human. As I did so, her head tilted and her eyes widened. She knew I had caressed her mind.

"What have you brought to us." The woman said softly without taking her eyes off me.

"Some diluted fae, unsure of how much. Did you feel her reach out?"

"Yes… Is she a witch?"

"No, telepath." He was positively enthused at sharing this information.

"Reading minds?" Her face became sharp and the dominating posture she had come into the room with became taut.

"Yes. And now you know why you will have her on the team. And why her bond needs to be broken asap."

"What team are you referring to?" I wasn't about to sit in this room while others discussed my fate without my say so. It was the woman who responded.

"The most elite task force that SSS has just happens to be based in Dallas. We travel to other states solving supernatural _problems_ for our government."

"And you're on this team?" Richard had his hands anchored to his desk, his body leaning forward as he watched us interact. His gaze shifted back and forth between us with a telltale smile of achievement.

"Yes. My name is Octavia Fant and I am a witch. The others include Amelia Broadway, also a witch, along with Gladiola and Diantha who are part demon sisters."

"No Weres."

"We supplement with them for missions, but none are useful on a permanent basis. What can you do besides telepathy?"

"That's it. Besides smelling and tasting really good to vampires. Which is a liability, not a skill."

"We'll fix that. Let's go." This was happening quickly. To be honest I had never thought I would be taken in with open arms and accepted for my gift, much less asked to participate in this community of supes and people. All around the office there were witches, Weres, and what I assumed were part demons and other part fae. _This place is a safe house._

We made several turns down a maze of hallways until we arrived at a large conference room that was similar to the small concrete room with the chalk I had seen. The circles here were bigger, with copper dishes at focal points of the circles crossing over one another. A brunette woman stood with her back facing the wall as she looked at shelves in front of her, pulling bottles down quickly. The woman turned and looked at us.

"Let's get this over with. But it's the last time we do Richard a favor."

"Amelia, Richard pulled through. This girl is joining our team."

"In god's name why. We're fine, better than fine. We don't need any more members."

"Don't be petulant. The girl is a telepath."

"Bullshit." The brunette folded her arms and mean mugged me. _You know what?_ I thought. _I'm going to spoon feed you sweetness. I'm going to be so nice to you that you'll shit out my kindness._

"I'm so happy to join this team! I just came from such a terrible situation and I was hoping to serve others as recompense for my safety. It's gracious of you to help me with unwanted bond I have." I laid it on thick for Amelia. Octavia raised a single brow at me as Amelia huffed and turned back to her ingredients. I passed a wink to Octavia. The older witch's cheek twitched upward, which I took to mean she was trying not to smile.

"Ok, well I have all the ingredients here. Go stand in the center of the circle." Amelia was brusque with me and with setup. She tossed a random assortment of ingredients in each dish in a slapdash way as Octavia pulled out a phone and turned away to make a call. I walked to the center as directed and Amelia came up to me with a dagger and a bottle of salt. If it had just been the dagger, I would have been a little worried.

"Here." She thrust the hilt at me and I took it. The salt was for a circle that was made around me along with another larger circle. Amelia shoved the salt container into my hand after she finished. "You'll need this too. And let me get you your cup." Amelia unceremoniously gave me the cup, almost causing me to drop the salt. Octavia murmured into her phone discernibly before hanging up.

"The girls are on their way."

"About freaking time." I was having trouble understanding why Amelia was tolerated when she was acting like such a bitch. Octavia approached me, carefully stepping over the circles. It seemed she knew what was on my mind.

"She'll accept you, but she hates change. Don't worry."

"I heard that!"

Octavia reached up and squeezed my arms. A few other women walked in and filtered around the room. "Gladiola, Diantha, Holly, I'd like you to meet Sookie Stackhouse." She pointed out each to me as she said their names.

"We'rebreakingabond?" Diantha said rapidly. "Whyonsuchshortnotice?"

"Sookie is joining our team." Diantha whistled and Gladiola's eyes were the first one's I met after Octavia's declaration. "She's a telepath."

"Ooooo. Sometimesdemonsaretelepaths. AreyoudemonlikeIamSookieStackhouse?" Diantha was a chatty cathy, and a fast talker.

"Don't think so…" She was a fast as a vampire and I almost portaled away from her, which would have been really bad to reveal to these people I didn't know.

"Youdon'tsmelllikedemon. Hmph." The demon woman stalked back to her spot next to her sister, who had said nothing thus far.

"Let's get this over with. Chop fuckity chop." Amelia clapped her hands like a bad restaurant patron who expects constant attention from waitstaff. All the women moved to a copper bowl and accepted matches from Amelia as she passed them out. "K, now here is how this is going to go. We're calling the vampire's blood from your body. Doesn't matter how many of them put it in you, doesn't matter who, doesn't matter their age or gender or any of that other stuff. This is a separation ceremony that works for a lot of other things. You're in the main circle now, but you'll step out when we tell you. You break the salt line with your foot, into the larger circle and seal the smaller one back up with salt. The blood can't leave with you when you go, so it stays in the main circle and we send it back to its owner. They won't feel it, so don't worry. Just the bond being gone. The dagger is for you to cut yourself and put your blood in the cup. The ceremony will separate the blood in the cup and also in you. Got it?"

"I think so."

"You think so or you know so."

"How about I just listen to what you say when you tell me to do it."

"Works for me." The other members of the ceremony were silent as Amelia started chanting. They knew what to do, because when Amelia's mumbling of latin and other strange words ceased, they lit the herbs in their respective bowls. The flames roared greater than they should for the amount of fuel they had, and a light gold glow flowed out, following the chalk lines. Soon every line was lit up and when that was complete, Amelia spoke.

"Take the dagger to your wrist and cut. It is sharp so you will not feel it until it is done. Drip it into the cup."

I did so, and she was right. I felt nothing until there was a sharp jolt of pain.

"Fuck!"

"Shut up." Amelia started chanting again after admonishing me. I watched the blood in the cup as parts of it turned black swirled into the red. I clutched my bleeding wrist trying to block the wound from gushing.

"Pour the cup over your open wound." I had no idea what that black crap was in there, but I trusted Amelia at this point that this ceremony was doing _something_. As I did so, the black liquid slithered off my wrist, while the red stayed put.

"Step out of the small circle and break the salt line, but stay in the other one. Salt it closed." I followed her instructions and turned to look at the black splotch in the middle of the floor. Without any warning, it burst into ash. The glowing lines pulled back into their origin while Amelia chanted once more.

"Now you can step out of the big circle." I didn't feel that much differently.

"You're sure it worked?"

"Are you seriously questioning that after the light show we gave you? And the black blood turning into ash? Bitch."

"Amelia-" Octavia interjected.

"No it's all right, I shouldn't have asked. Thank you. Is there anything for my hand?"

"Don't thank me, I was put up to this." Amelia started shoving ingredients back into their respective spots as the other women came to stand around me.

"Here's a salve that will heal that right up. I'm Holly. I work as the witch network coordinator here at SSS. I also participate in ceremonies like this." I shook her hand.

"I'm Gladiola. Diantha's sister. It's a pleasure to meet you and I am interested to see how you will fit into our group."

"She doesn't!" Amelia yelled from across the room.

" !"

"What did you say to me?!"

"Youheardme!" Diantha barred her teeth and they were scarier than mine. Hers were like tiny needles and how she didn't slice up her lips every time she closed her mouth was a miracle.

"Enough!" Octavia strode over to Amelia and glowered at the girl. "What is eating away at you that you're like this?" The woman gasped at Octavia's forward question. She looked around the room and met everyone's expectant gaze before slumping into a chair sitting next to the shelves.

"My dad is trying to find me again." I wondered why. It'd be nice to have a parent, even if they sucked.

"Wellyoudon'thavetotakeitoutonus."

"Sorry guys. Sorry Sookie. I didn't mean to be so rude to you. It's been a rough week."

"Yeah. Same here... " I said with a sigh. "Well, what's next?"

"You need that anti-fae tracking charm… And then we can get you to your bedroom. Training starts tomorrow at 7am sharp."

"Training?"

"What, you didn't think you were going to just cruise on through with your telepathy? This is also a military branch of government, though we're not army, marines, navy or the like. But we have some standards. You need to know how to fight and how to work with a team. Gladiola will train you on hand to hand. I will drill you on spells that you can fight off on your own without a witch. Diantha will walk you through how our unit functions and what we're all capable of. Amelia will show you how to assist her if she needs to cast a spell. Each class is two hours with a break after four." Octavia looked proud of the efficient schedule she had composed.

"So a full work day."

"Yes. You'll see your first mission soon though. Our skills are in high demand."

"But won't I be a liability?"

"Depending on the mission yes. But otherwise the demon girls will protect you. You need real world experience anyway in order to become part of our crew. What are your powers besides telepathy?"

"I really don't want to say…" There was no way. I was trying to be nice about it, but seriously I would not be telling people about my being a crazy-ass looking fae. Richard's pictures had _nothing_ on me.

"It's ok, we can take a vow to never reveal your secrets." Amelia was talking without anger or disgust. She even sounded friendly.

"Look, a promise sounds great, but I have some things I'd rather people not know."

"What she means, is that we have a way to ensure that a secret stays safe. We've all made vows to each other to never betray our secrets. If we do, we die." Octavia said, trying to bolster the argument for me to do a show-and-tell.

"How do you… die... and how does that make up for telling someone something private."

"I guess I should say you physically can't. And if you keep trying to open your mouth to tell, you die. Consider that we all have taken this vow with each other. We are dedicated to helping others, humans, halflings and even supernaturals in all situations where they have been forced to do something against their will or are under threat of death. You said you wanted to help, to repay what you are being given. This is it Sookie. It's the very best way. And if you have skills that we can plan with, you will save lives." Her plea is intoxicating to me. The life I had most recently left behind was fraught with danger because of who I was. Here, who I was could be the reverse of that. I might make up for Gran's death, Sam's concern and the lie of my death which affected Tara and Jason.

"Ok, let's see as best of an example as you can get."

Diantha stepped forward and started to speak, but nothing came out. Soon she was bent over trying to open her mouth. The part demon coughed up blood, spraying it on the ground.

Ok, ok, I got it. Let's get this charm and these vows and I'll speak." Fuck it. I was going to risk it. I had a feeling I was just powerful enough anyway to deal with whatever was dished at me by telling.

The charm was interesting. It was a clamp that cinched around the top of my ear, looking decorative in a 90s kind of way. The innocuous piece of metal was supposed to help mask my "essential spark" as Octavia called it.

The vows were done far more easily than the consequences entailed.

"You're sure this is real, and you're not messing with me?"

"When it's done, think about telling someone what you know of us. You'll feel a pressure, which is a warning. If you were to be in front of someone and the information was on the tip of your tongue, there would be pain."

"Ok, let's get this over with." Each woman cut their hand and placed it on the bare skin of my arms. Lots of blood in these ceremonies. This was the way for them to promise me their secrets. In turn I placed two freshly bloodied hands on Gladiola and Diantha. The salve had healed my cut, and it was tedious to have to slice my palm open again. Octavia and Amelia were next. Holly had slipped out of the room after the ceremony, since she was not in the unit.

"Iamabletorunfast. Likecrosstwostatesinamatterofhoursfast. Likeaplane. Gladiolatoo."

"You speak really fast…" I barely understood her. Diantha shrugged.

"I am the daughter of Copley Carmichael. But I hate him and plan to refuse his fortune when he dies. I'll give it all to charity. If he hasn't disinherited me by now. All my ex boyfriends are dead because of me." Copley was a fabulously wealthy businessman, even I knew that. For his daughter to be flouncing around with witches and demons was probably a stick in his craw.

"I will be forced to marry a demon of my father's choice eventually. But I will kill him to be free, if need be." Gladiola volunteered this information with a solemn expression. Diantha reached over to comfort her, smearing blood on her shirt.

"I accidentally killed my lover when I was young, with witchcraft. I should be in jail, but the police weren't equipped to catch me at the time. I regret it every day of my life and if I weren't here performing a duty to others I would turn myself in." That was cutting. "Your turn Sookie."

"I'm a royal fae, the great-granddaughter of Niall, and I can portal, cloak my scent, as well as be my true form. My Gran died because of what I am." I felt a small portion of pain leave me with my declaration.

"Sorryaboutyourgran, butyou'resofuckinglying." Diantha was grinning ear to ear, which was _not_ flattering on her face. It felt good to have them gloss over gran's death. That hurt was _mine._ _If they see it, they'll believe it._ I transformed quickly in front of the girls and portaled in front of Diantha.

"OhmygodyouareafaebutIthoughtallofyouwerehidingordead!" Instead of screaming in fear, she grabbed me into a really tight hug. I mean, really tight. I couldn't see the other women's expressions because Diantha was trying to crush the life out of me in excitement.

"Diantha, I know you're excited… but…." Gladiola had a gentle and appreciative look on her face as she walked over.

"Ohyes. Sorry!" Diantha let go and pushed me over to Gladiola.

"You will make a wonderful addition sister. It's been so long since I've seen a fae noble, too, too long. We were all meant to roam the earth together you know. I'll see to it that you get a copy of the histories." Hearing about the history of my family would be neat, but the part about being on earth together was cryptic.

Gladiola stepped away and I looked at the two witches. They were reserved looking.

"Why did you turn out to be so badass. It was bad enough learning about the demons. But seriously. I wanted to be the ass-kicking bitch of this whole group." Amelia pouted and crossed her arms over her chest. "So are you a mercurial selfish bastard like all fae are?"

"What?" I tilted my head in askance, looking around at Gladiola, Diantha and Octavia.

"Like I said, we'll get you the histories." Gladiola graced me with those sharp little teeth. I wasn't sure they were for tearing at flesh so much as stabbing it repeatedly until it bled out.

"You know, this is a little overwhelming. I think I want to lay down." In all my running, I had forgotten my feelings in the past 72 hours. How could I forget. It filtered down my body and I sunk to the ground.

"Sookie? Sookie!" They sounded so far away.

I woke up in a bed with Gladiola sitting next to me in a chair with a book. The room was small, and instead of normal walls the entire thing was stainless steel. The floor itself was strangely epoxied over more steel.

"What.. why is this.."

"The walls have iron and silver in them, covered by the stainless. Keeps the fae and vampires out." She set down the book in her lap. It was old with thick pages, leather bound and worn.

"Did I…?"

"Faint? Oh yes. But it's understandable." I tried to sharpen up. How could she think my passing out was _understandable_. This place was new, sure, but I had crumbled up like a crunchy fall leaf. Seeing my defensiveness, Gladiola rested a hand on my bed, and thankfully not on me. "Your Gran, I am sorry."

"Okay." It wasn't the right response, but it was all I could muster. I pulled my legs up to my chest and tried to make myself a ball. Tears pooled in my eyes and I shoved my face down, eye sockets over my knees.

"We have all experienced death. Before the SSS could come up with protections, we lost a family member. The vampires got to my and Diantha's uncle, Desmond Cataliades. Amelia had a couple of boyfriends and lovers and they killed them one by one, leaving their bodies torn up in her apartments. The last one, Bob, she was still with and she tried to protect him but could not. Octavia was a mother…"

"I know, I know you're telling me you suffered, but I don't want to hear or believe right now that you know what I feel like. She died because of me. Not even something I did. No, it was my _existence_ that killed her. You know? I never picked to be who I am and it destroyed the person closest to me. I tried, I really tried, and I can't help but think if I was fae sooner, she wouldn't have died. Or if I had called for help from my friends that maybe we could have made it through, shooting all the vampires from the safety of my house. I could have left sooner. But no, I was selfish and I kept her with me." I was practically shouting these words now, not to Gladiola per se. I stared at the wall in front of me and wanted this room to be a prison, a cage for what I had done.

"It's hard. We know it's hard. We can help. Lay back, I will read to you."

"Nothing is going to help."

"For now, being and thinking nothing is what you need. So yes, it will help." I was hurt that she turned my words around on me. Fucking A I did not _deserve_ compassion. A vampire died at my hand. Sookie would not have done that, never in a million years would she have been so unforgiving or acted with such authority that she was allowed to hold a life in her hands and take it swiftly. With cruelty even.

"This book is not confusing. It's rather dry, and it is more a list than an understanding of the past. Lilith is life and Samael is magic. The two are brother and sister, husband and wife, mother and father. They had many children, the first of which were Empusa, Azazel, Abyzou, Maeve, Elatha, Eri, Chava and Adamah."

"I've read the bible and the chapter listing the genealogy of kings was so boring I skipped it." I was being crotchety, but this demon wasn't leaving me alone to cry it out. In short she was being a bitch, by caring for me. If I believed in sin, I'd be a sinner for thinking so harshly of her. Gladiola continued on.

"Empusa was the first of the vampires. She was twin to Maeve, and they were born pressed together, no one eldest to the other. Maeve was the first sky fae. The earth, fire and water fae were born after. They were Elatha, Azazel and Eri. Abyzou, the demon, came next. Many other children were born of each distinction. Abyzou ate ten of her eleven demon sisters, but for Petomene who escaped the world with Azazel's help, taking the love he had for her along with his child. Adamah and Chava were born last, with Lilith's death in childbirth. Samael considered them the weakest of their children and shielded them from all others, having none of their father's magic. Abyzou's pain at her mother's death was so great could not abide her magicless siblings lives. She stole the protection the dying Lilith had placed on them and shrouded them in the spell of forgetting, placing it on their blood. They were cast out onto the earth to fend for themselves. Samael in turn disowned her, but he could not kill his own child. Instead he consigned Abyzou into an abyss. But not before Abyzou negotiated with Cain, the son of Adamah and Chava, to steal his brother Abel against his will, in the hopes that she could end their chance to continue their line and start her own."

"You are laying this on pretty thick. Do you actually believe this crap? And how come I've never heard of anyone but Cain and Abel in this story?"

"Adamah and Chava are Adam and Eve. Adamah is dust of the ground and Eve is life. They had no magic to subsist on, and they grew what they had from the fields, unable to manipulate magic into providing for them. Some scholars argue that humans are strong for having to fight for every inch of the world, dying in droves when mistakes were made. The others had everything that was given them, taking all of Lilith with them. It was us who killed Lilith by taking the magic out of her, not the humans."

"Us. Fae, Demons, Vampires? What about Weres? "

"We can get to Weres later. But yes. Your Gran was a human and I have the utmost respect for their ability to survive and endure. The fae left this very world because the threat of death was intolerable, even as the water and sky fae fought endlessly, the completion of one blood feud begetting another round of useless killing. Vampires are zealous regarding power for the same reason. And the demons… we cracked the gates of the abyss long ago, but there we stay, few venturing out into the human world. In the end, what is left of Samael comes for all of us. Death being the great equalizer, as the humans say." Gladiola looked happy, as if she had dispensed wisdom from god himself.

"This isn't helping. I've never seen vampires respect humans, and my great-grandfather clearly didn't appreciate me enough to help me or Gran. You and Diantha seem nice, but I don't have a good track record with Supes."

"My views are quite the opposite of many of Lilith's line."

"Your appreciation didn't save Gran. And I know you're trying to comfort me, but right now I want you to, so shove it and leave me alone." Really, I didn't need to be so mean. Gladiola was trying to support me, but I didn't fucking want support. I wanted Gran alive and well.

"Being alone with your self-hatred is not what your grandmother would have wanted."

"You don't know her. Don't presume to."

"From your grieving, I know she was loved. She raised a telepathic fae child, so she was strong. You have confidence and strength in you when it comes to what you want, which means she gave you a backbone. Your heart led you here, abandoning your family for their sake. Does that not mean she taught you what true sacrifice and love is? No, I don't know her laugh, her look or her life. But I know her kind." That straw broke my back and Gladiola crept into my bed, wrapping her arms around me and telling me it would be ok. That I'd make it through and I could honor her memory, that I had done nothing wrong and had no reason to feel shame. Death happened, and my grandmother wouldn't have regretted her sacrifice, as I should recognize that I needn't regret mine. The onion peeled and I felt a flicker of belief for what she said inside me.

The door opened and Amelia stood there taking in the scene. I looked at her and felt angry that she had walked in on a vulnerable moment. Slamming my hands on the bed I shouted at her.

"And what the fuck are you doing here. Have you come to join Gladiola on the make-Sookie-sad bandwagon?"

Instead of throwing a fit, Amelia ignored what I said, rushed to me and crawled next to Gladiola with waterworks streaming down her face.

"I know. I know. When you can't protect them, it hurts. It hurts so bad it could eat your fucking heart." She held my hands in hers and her face matched mine, grief to grief. She had been so mean to me, but I got it now. Gran's death had made me a little mean too, in order to survive. I left Eric, Sam, Jason and Tara less than 72 hours ago.

Gladiola slipped away and out of the room, leaving me with the prickly witch who was dissolving her hard shell in front of me.

"I'll tell you how it went. So you know. My father, he despised my being a witch. Thought it was a dumb fake thing where we all believed we were witches in a coven, but according to the gospel of Copley, it was really a cult and I was on drugs. He kidnapped me, and held me against my will, but I got out because I am… what I am. It made me crazy, and I dealt with it by dating a slew of guys. It didn't matter who I was with; every dick was me stabbing my father's control to death. I'd always been 'too good' to date anyone, to have my own friends or fun. So I cut loose. I met Octavia and she taught me more about what I was capable of, and together we became witches for hire. We made a mistake Sookie, and got ourselves hired by vampires. There's honor among them, but only for other vampires. After what we did, the other side came after us and our employers… they were no help. They laughed in our face and told us that expecting anything from them was a fool's errand." She looked down at her empty hands and continued.

"It started with newspaper clippings at my door. Andrew Marshall dead, hit by a car at 25. James Buchanan, 24, committed suicide by jumping off a building. Then.." She sobbed and put her head in her hands. "Then came the bodies in my apartment. Torn up, their faces left intact to show their fear before they died. They looked so scared, and all were tortured. All of them fucking died after many hours of pain, either becoming septic, infected, flayed, stabbed hundreds of times. I don't even know how they managed to make so many cuts, I don't want to know."

"And you didn't call the police?"

"The first time I did. I could tell they suspected me and when it happened again I knew I couldn't call. I cleaned up the bodies myself and used my savings to move to new places right after. Didn't matter."

"Well what about Octavia?"

"I….that's her story to tell. At the time all this started, I was with Bob… Robert. The vampires always found out where I lived. Spell or no spell to protect me, they found me. I don't know how. I told him to leave, hide and he didn't listen. I was selfish. When they got Bob, when they got him…I knew they had been saving him for last." She was hoarse. "He was alive, and he died in my arms. They glamoured him to hate me, to curse me and tell me I was responsible for his death. And he died that way. That's how he died." I was crying for her too. She had it much worse than I did and I felt waves of compassion for her. I didn't think I'd be as tough as she was if I'd gone through what she did. Amelia smiled then, and wiped her tears and mucus with a sleeve.

"We got them though. I joined the SSS, with Diantha, Gladiola and Octavia already there. Octavia got me in. And we got them, and we made them suffer. Diantha and Gladiola brought them to me, and I'm not ashamed to say I made them hurt and beg. They begged for months Sookie, and I am not sorry. Do you understand? I'm not fucking sorry and I won't apologize to anyone." I understood, god did I understand. My heart of hearts told me to be kind, to be good, but I would hold Sophie-Anne in silver for years, if that's what it took to make her see what she what she'd done and regret it. Regret the absolute fuck out of it, plead with me to end it. Through the layers of guilt I now saw the true culprits.

"They weren't apologetic. Even at the end they spat and howled that they were in the right. That was the only unsatisfying part. But I got over it. Killing them helped, when I never thought it would and couldn't believe I was there doing it. Staking them, stabbing them with silver needles and injecting colloidal silver. I've done bad things in the name of revenge and I don't need anyone's forgiveness. You don't either."

She grabbed my face and held my wet cheeks so I had to look at her determination. I peeled a little more. Just a little more.


	12. Chapter 12

beta'd by Suzymeinen

***Sookie***

"Quit picking at your uniform." I addressed a scowling Amelia, who sat next to me on our plane.

"It's fuck-ugly. Why do we even wear these."

"It's professional, slut. We don't all wear short skirts." I jibbed.

"So you're telling me that you love this prudish thing? Not a surprise, virgin." Amelia pulled her arms and hands back behind her head, splaying out her legs and quite pleased with herself.

"And where were you last night again _Amelia_?"

"Getting it on, like you should be, _Stephanie_." She grinned and gyrated her hips up and down.

"If you had to worry about accidentally stabbing people in the face with your claws, you wouldn't fuck anyone either." I shooed her with my hand.

"Some people are into that." She placed her arm around me seductively and we dissolved into giggles.

"The wrong people for me Ms. Broadway. But if I meet some boys or girls who like that sort of thing, I'll let you know."

"Please do. Though why I would trust you to find them for me I don't know. But you do make a great wingwoman, because you never steal the prey."

"They are people you know." I rolled my eyes.

"Just because they're people, doesn't mean they don't want to be prey!"

"You are a sick, sick fuck."

"And you are not even a fuck. You have had no fucks."

"Jesus christ. I was a mother and you try my patience more than my children _ever_ did. Shut _up._ " The elder witch punched the back of our seats and we both gave each other a sly look.

Diantha flipped around in her seat to look back at us.

"Wewillgooutclubbingyes?"

"Hell yes we will. And you better wear the craziest shit you can find in your closet." Amelia loved goading the demon to be new heights of strange clothing. Both girls were crazy for clubs and loved to shop constantly for new outfits to go out in.

"Iamnotsureyouwantthat." Diantha was probably right.

"Bring it, bitch!" Amelia flashed her smuggiest of smugs.

"Oh for the love of christ!"

"Get headphones Octavia!" Amelia shouted loudly.

"I shouldn't have to." The oldest of our team sounded dissatisfied. We were always bugging her with loud noises or crazy behavior. I think she secretly liked it and that we reminded her of when she still had kids.

Diantha sniggered and pulled out a bunch of Gladiola's earplugs before unceremoniously throwing them up in the air, over our seats and all over Octavia.

"You're getting hexed. Your room is going to be hexed. Your clothes. Your face. Your hair. Especially your hair." Octavia stood, pulling out all the little plugs from her scarf and the folds of her dress and tossing them angrily on the floor. I had to remember that Octavia wasn't much older than us, but somehow she conveyed authority and that was why she led our misfit, but effective, group.

"Butyouloveme."

"Not that much." We all laughed while Octavia sulked and Gladiola read her book, not bothering to chastise her sister for the earplug incident. The pilot announced that we were descending and would be landing in Los Angeles in 20 minutes.

"Let's do the run down ladies. We find the nest, we bust that shit up, save the humans, and dance with victory."

"Amelia it's not just any nest. It's sanctioned by the king of California who is notably against mainstreaming. He's not checking in on his Sheriff of the area so he can have plausible deniability to the human government. But he knows, that we are certain. We just can't prove he's involved through proper channels. So they've sent us to bust up the biggest nest, and I think the king is expecting us. We need to anticipate that they have spell protections and likely have the trifecta of metals just in case, since we _hope_ they don't know exactly what we all are." Octavia always had the background information on the mission. You'd think our superiors would tell us what the big picture was, but they considered us a scalpel. We were a tool that you used to cut malignant growths off, and you didn't talk to your tools.

"And this isn't a trap?" I asked.

"Of course Steph, it most definitely is. But we've been careful with our powers, so they shouldn't know what's coming even if they have perfect information regarding our team. Our instructions are to take no vampire prisoners and attempt to save the humans. But we're authorized to kill them if need be."

"What level of attack though?" I asked, concerned. We were all sick of having to pull our punches. It made sense that they didn't want vampires knowing every capability, but we'd been really good about keeping that information to ourselves by letting none escape.

"Wenevergettogotolevelten. Theyhateus." Diantha groaned and plopped in her seat.

"No, they're doing it for our protection. If we don't have to, we shouldn't give all that we have to each conflict. And we don't have to today. Only an inch over what we did last time, okay?" Octavia looked for our confirmation and we all mumbled it unhappily, except Gladiola who was always unflappably calm in her responses. So composed, and so violent in battle. Diantha was a mad blurr and Gladiola was a lethal and accurate sword behind Diantha's mayhem.

My new name was Stephanie. It wouldn't do to be discovered because my name was so unique. Stephanie went to college in Dallas, majored in business and ended up with a job at SSS. She works in the office, managing logistics. Or so her profile with the SSS says. I'm sure the vampires suspected the SSS' method of masking their version of a SWAT team from discovery. We all hid under the same umbrella of innocuous roles in the government, with no identifying pictures on the SSS' website. Diantha and Gladiola organized research. Octavia was human resources. Like hell those were our jobs. I couldn't see Diantha organizing anything. And Octavia wasn't a patient, nice lady. Amelia was laughably a "secretary". We joked that if she was actually a secretary her greeting would be something like "Hello you fucking cunts, what do you want?"

The turbulence hit and Amelia and I held hands like scared babies. I hated planes, but hiding the fact that I could portal from the entirety of SSS was important to me, which left me stuck with planes. Only the girls knew what I could do. I had to admit too that not telling the government protected them from accidentally telling vampires about us, thereby getting their unwanted attention. If vampires knew about the nature of our team, they would do whatever they could to see us dead and gone.

Vampires often went all out anyway, when it came to their security. Most monarchs had personal armies which was more of a matter of extravagant expenditures than planning. It was all power with vampires, which could be attained through money and bodies on the ground. I could see the armies of baby vamps in my mind, slavering and chomping at the bit, having been created by a monarchy to make the state seem well protected. We'd killed a lot of youngin's at this point. So many that I knew none of us remembered their faces, and we tried not to think about the fact that they were humans until very recently and that it wasn't their fault they were turned to be cannon fodder. Sad to say we'd all lost people very important to us and it all but eradicated any issues we felt about killing non-combatants. If we didn't fight like them, we wouldn't win.

There was something to be said for not fighting as dirty as your opponent on principle, but that's not where we were. The government trusted us to not get caught mucking things up and allowing for our team to be blamed for innocent deaths. But since we were good at killing everything and everyone who needed to die, and then some, we didn't.

Only once had a vampire found out what I was while we were fighting. He'd gotten away and we quickly tracked him down. Diantha and Gladiola were there to hulk smash the vampire and his nest, and Amelia and Octavia cast a strong spell on the ringleader to see if he was telling the truth about not selling my secret fae ancestry away to other more important vampires. Thankfully the vampire was a selfish prick and thought he could handle the capturing and keeping of me all on lonesome. The spell drained Amelia and Octavia for weeks after, and given its nature they said they'd never make it public knowledge outside the group for fear that someone would find out. So much for handing out vampire-truth spells like hotcakes.

We had a lot of secrets between us. I told them all about Eric Northman and Amelia teased me relentlessly over it. At first she was poking at the fact that I was into a vampire, and then she looked Eric up. After that point Amelia tried to convince me time and time again to go see "that hot piece of blond ass." And asking questions like "Do you think the curtains match the drapes?" and "When he was in your bed, did you check if he was packing?" _No Amelia, I did not. I was thinking about how not to die._ Diantha and Gladiola were dodging their father. Gladiola had been promised for marriage recently and neither woman wanted to be tied down to some "traditional" demon, which is the kind that doesn't let you work outside the home and expects babies pronto. Octavia had no family, but for us. Vampires had taken everything from her and Octavia had more to take than most. With Copley, Amelia's father, he was so rich that vampires weren't allowed to touch him or his family.

Octavia had no such protection. Her children, husband, sisters and brothers, cousins. All gone. Her parents had already passed. She didn't talk about it much, and I couldn't blame her. I totally got it that once you left, you never wanted to go back to those memories. What I knew, was that Octavia considered us her new family and she was our mom. There was something that couldn't be fixed in her, and when she acted out her role as her parent to us it sometimes seemed like she believed it or she was seeing her children in front of her. We never told the counselors about it, because if they believed she was on the edge of having a psychotic break they wouldn't let her fight. This sounded dangerous, to lie to the government about her deficiencies, but I had taken a look at Octavia's thoughts after Amelia prompted me to check on her. Octavia knew everyone in her life was gone and that we weren't her real family, but a part of her really didn't want to know that she knew. She never did it in battle and that's all that mattered.

For the most part I stayed out of her mind, out of everyone's. The demons I couldn't read, with their static buzzing almost like a radio being adjusted. Everyone's tragedies were their own and if they wanted to share the details they could. Most of them had told me everything already, as I had them. None of us made comments on the deaths of our friends on family. I'm sure Gladiola and Diantha knew Eric Northman, but they didn't make me feel like crap about why I still had feelings for my jailer, excuse me, protector. In any case, I rarely got flashes of images or words from people's minds anymore. I'd been practicing and I'd gotten really good, I mean really good, at keeping people out. With that practice came a range of about 5 miles, which was substantial. And I couldn't forget that I was now excellent at honing in on a single mind in a crowd.

I had some weak points. Iron didn't feel great and I was allergic to lemons. My combat skills were minimal and I wasn't very good at portaling in fights in an orchestrated way. Thankfully all the vampires we had met thus far did not know how to fight a fae, or a demon. Diantha had said to me that there were great histories that expounded on the majesty of fae portaling in battle, but she herself had never read them.

Most of my powers were still wonky, and there wasn't training available for them. Sometimes I punched enemies with light, other times I knocked them out with my "poofy sleep cloud" as Amelia liked to put it, but it was all on instinct. I had control over my appearance though, which was great when I wanted to hide in plain sight. This included my masking my scent. Mostly we relied on me to scout, get the truth from humans and Weres, my claws and teeth for their silver against vampires, to escape via a portal and my portaling in fights. What I liked to do while we were in action was clasp on to Diantha and throw her in the midst of battle and take her out if I saw she was getting overwhelmed, only to drop her in another fight. Diantha thought this was the best thing ever and since I started doing it, she would bounce with excitement, just waiting for me to toss her in with the sharks.

"Ok. Do we have anyone meeting us?" I was the paranoid and curious one of the group. _Is this a trap? What about our level of attack?_

"No, too risky." Octavia shook her head.

"You know if they were giving us the cover of being the girlfriends of rich men going shopping in LA, they should have paid for our nice clothes and not made us wear uniforms." Amelia harrumphed.

"They did pay for our clothes and we're changing right now." The smirk on Octavia's face showed just how much she had enjoyed keeping Amelia in her hated uniform for hours longer than necessary. Only for kicks, though I couldn't be sure Amelia thought of that way. No, she probably thought of it as unsanctioned torture.

"And we waited until now for you to tell us this? I could have been in designer clothing two hours ago!" The brunette witch pulled at her hair in exaggerated consternation.

"And get your outfit wrinkled? Some of us don't have the money for five different outfits a day whenever one gets a little mussed up." Octavia had a sore spot for Amelia's wealth that had prevented her father from being killed. It didn't come out often, and only before missions. Usually before the difficult ones. Of which we only had a few. One was especially bad; I take full credit for that.

 _It was northern Minnesota in the Superior National forest and we were slumming it in the great outdoors. Octavia and Amelia had warmed all of us with spells, without which the demon girls would have cried wee wee wee all the way home. As it stood, watching Diantha and Gladiola in the snow was already the most pathetic thing I'd ever seen. Someone, a smart someone, had thought that a vampire-Were training camp in the bitter cold was a brilliant idea. Vampires don't feel cold, wolves have pelts, everyone's happy!_

 _These particular vampires were pumping out vampire guards for other monarchs. The only illegality of their actions was that they had been procuring human athletes that fought in martial arts. They hadn't stolen anyone who was associated with UFC, but that was only because vampires had a great eye for human flesh and spotted the cream of the crop early. All empires, including America, had done similarly illegal things at one point, like slavery. But no matter how many bills were written protecting the rights of humans or how many vampires were told that procurement was now illegal, there were those who just wouldn't listen._

 _Some of the Weres working in the compound had gotten uncomfortable with the methods of training the newly turned fighters. We had gotten the most information from a Were's bitch that had escaped the compound with her pup. Her mate paid the price for her defection, he having aided her. Which meant that the Weres and Vampires were very likely expecting us. It was unfortunate that the bitch had not known more about the compound itself, having been confined to a separate living quarter._

" _There's another pond. Care for a swim?" The Amelia asked Diantha for the thirteenth time. Diantha gurgled out a snarl and hissed at her. The demons were picking their steps through the snow reluctantly. It may not be fiery in Abyzou's realms, but it wasn't cold. And there was no snow there, Diantha and Gladiola had loudly told me._

" _Itisicedover."_

" _We can fix that."_

" _Liketheheatspellthatisbarelywarmenough?" The witch sniggered._

" _You will stop antagonizing Diantha or I will strip that spell right from you and let you freeze in this snow!" Octavia whisper-hissed as she headed up the rear. I walked in front of the two demons, concentrating on the woods in front of me. Now it was Diantha's turn to snigger._

 _I hadn't heard or felt anything yet. Wait. I gestured my hand for the girls to stop. There. It was a single Were and it was slowly walking this way, clearly on a scouting circuit. Diantha and Gladiola tilted their heads now, hearing the Were. I nodded at Diantha and she jumped up in the air as I reached out to touch her._

 _We were behind the wolf now as Diantha fell on top of it, grabbing it in a demon-tight hug before I portaled us back. Gladiola was waiting and she snagged the Were's throat in one clawed hand while Diantha pushed herself off its back. The Were chose that moment to shift into her human form, likely trying to break Gladiola's grip. Octavia and Amelia were already working to cast a bubble spell around us. It wouldn't hold the Were in, but no one could hear her while she was in it. The spell itself was kind of like how in the movies you could fool security cameras by stopping their footage on the picture of an empty elevator so hero of the story could sneak in and save the day, undetected. Yeah, others could see if they were up close. Still useful for when you knew the enemy wasn't coming this way._

 _Gladiola took her sword and slammed the point of it down into the Were's bare foot, pinioning it to the ground. The woman screamed and fought against Gladiola's grip. The demon only pulled up on the woman's body, causing her leg to stretch away from her pinned foot. After some whimpering and crying from the she-wolf, Gladiola nodded to Diantha who swept up behind the Were, pulling her arms back to force the woman's elbows into meeting together._

 _A knife flicked into Gladiola's hand and she looked at me expectantly. The woman panted as I rifled through her brain, flicking threw her memories like changing channels on a television. I got a lot from her, and answered Gladiola's unspoken question._

" _Guilty."_

 _The demon ended it right there with a dagger up under the woman's chin and into her brain._

 _I continued. "They turn them and have them fight against each other. The vampires leading watch and note the best fighters. Then they use the rejects as bait dogs for their prize progeny. The she-wolf enjoyed disposing of the ones that didn't die right away, but not before being allowed to torture them. She liked it for the fun of it. Nothing bad had ever happened to her, but that she grew up in a bad pack. They all have to go. Sorry."_

" _Don'tbesorry. Youarealwayssorry."_

" _I guess I'm not. It sucks to recognize when someone can't be saved, though."_

" _We don't have time for hugs and kisses Steph. Did you get a look at the interior and the sentry patterns?"_

" _If I didn't, I'd be good for nothing." I winked. "Chop fuckity chop Amelia." I held out my hand. She took it and started shaking it with false exasperation for us to get going. The others had moved in to touch me and I portaled inside. We were in a hallway that didn't see much use._

" _Okay," Octavia said. "Usual spread. Diantha on point, Gladiola behind, witches in the middle, Steph pull up the back when you're not working with Diantha. Where next, and who?"_

" _Two children, lieutenants, having a conversation in the tower above. They hear us, muffled, according to the donor that's in the room. They're coming." The vampires shot into the hallway and met Diantha's claws on both sides of their ribcage, and the demon bit the arm of the vampire on her left. Gladiola dove her sword at the second vampire, but he managed to miss and make it in front of the witches, his smile at getting past the muscle and reaching the meat evident. He bounced off of Octavia and Amelia's shield spell and I portaled to meet him. I came out of the other end of my portal with the vampire's back to Gladiola. A single stroke took the vampire's head._

" _Another one bites the dust." Amelia fist pumped._

" _You sound like my brother, and I'm pretty certain he's a few IQ points above officially retarded." I drawled. Never miss an opportunity to get a good dig in._

 _In the meantime the other poor vampire had Diantha latched onto his body, with her having ripped off his arm with her mouth, bit by bit. We all watched her work on him, marveling more at her creativity than the gore. He was still howling in pain and fear when she reached his clavicle. Using her strong, sharp teeth with her unnaturally wide mouth, the scariest fucking demon this side of the mississip' and beyond, pulled off the vampire's shoulder. Diantha reached into his chest cavity with her claws and proceeded to vivisect him in half before ending the vampire's life by taking his head. All of the chunks of vampire around us vanished into ash._

" _Necessarynopleasingyes." I tapped my foot on the ground and pointed to the non-existent watch on my wrist. "Idon'tknowwhatthatmeans. Let'sgo." She shrugged._

" _The main event is waiting for us in the fighting hall. Besides him, the other ages of the vampires are pretty young. None older than the last decade." The bigger the void, the older the vamp._

" _They don't know we're here yet. Let me get the cloaking spell up." Octavia and Amelia chanted to activate the spell. It wasn't exactly a cloaking spell. More like something that would cause others to overlook them and a suggestion that these weren't the droids they were looking for._

 _I grabbed the vampire-dusty Diantha and everyone else latched onto me, and off we went._

 _We landed under a huge silver, copper and iron net that must have had motion sensors that were activated to drop the thing. The demons were the fast, having let go of me already, but not the humans. I jumped away with Octavia and Amelia back to the hallway, leaving the sisters behind._

" _Fuck. I didn't see it from her memories, fuck."_

" _Calm." The older witch tried to soothe me._

" _They're walking towards them. They have copper collars." Amelia had her eyes closed, tapping into her wards on the demons._

" _How did they know enough about us to suspect demons?! I have to go, now."_

" _Steph-"_

 _I had faed out completely out of fear and I didn't bother to hide my appearance. When I apparated in I did so with my claws in the middle of a vampire, melting them away to ash. When I looked down to see the demon's wounds from the copper I nearly lost my awareness of my surroundings. Instant fear took hold and then rage as I saw my two demon's skin smoking._

 _I snarled and shredded the chest of a vampire who had shot towards me. His body offered me leverage to spring off of towards the line of vampires and Weres. Not sure what I should do, I latched onto a vampire and started in with my teeth and claws like Diantha had done. It wasn't long before there were too many around me and I had to jump away to the other side of the room. They followed quickly and I wasn't able to take out more than two before the whole group was on me again. At this rate, it would take me at least a day to kill them all. And I had zero fighting skills; the best our fighters were languishing in pain below me. Fuck._

 _I moved back to Octavia and Amelia._

" _I don't know what the fuck to do! I can't get them out and there's too many vampires there!"_

" _Let's use what you have. Give them your scent and lead them on a merry chase. Grab us when you can and get us into the room where they are. Then stay away for heaven's sake." Thank god for Octavia. I could get too panicked during the mission and my stubbornness would get me in trouble because I couldn't think outside of what I was already doing. If I wasn't in the thick of it, I could. But right now I was terrified of losing my friends._

" _Right." When I came back into the room, the vampires and Weres had settled themselves into quadrants, hoping to catch me by layering themselves around the room. It was almost fucking successful and it was only my scent that made the vampire pause for the half second needed to help me escape. The battle went on like this for some time, my entering the room, dropping my scent and leaving again to incite blood lust. If the vampires fell into that state, they'd start tearing everything to shreds._

 _The Weres were immune to the effects of faerie, and in their confusion they were attacked mindlessly by intoxicated vampires. When they were all good and stupid high on me, the Weres dead, all hope of them achieving a formation was lost. I loped through the halls trailing the nest behind me. Unfortunately I couldn't outrun them for long and had to portal just ahead of them to stay unscathed._

 _I took a break from the chase to deposit the witches by Diantha and Gladiola, having counted the voids to be certain all vampires were on my trail before zipping back to the head of the pack of vampires. There was no way I could have done this to a group of older vampires. Not a chance in hell._

 _I felt the demons behind me in the hall now, whirring through the masses of vampires like whirling dervish. There were body parts everywhere, yet the pack kept chasing me. Enough were dead that I jumped behind Diantha and Gladiola in an effort to turn the nest this direction. Success._

" _The witches?" Said Gladiola. We stood in the empty, but ashy hall breathing in the bodies of our enemies._

" _Main hall." We popped in to see Amelia and Octavia with knives at their throat, held by two vampires. None of us thought then. I lunged for the vampire on the right and Diantha and Gladiola went for the left. It was me who was too slow and Amelia's throat was severed ear to ear. Her head lolled back and I caught her as she fell, spurts of blood showering my face._

" _Wait!" I screamed, before the demons destroyed the vampire in question. "His blood!" Diantha was leaning over Amelia, having broken the vampire's arm in half to let out a stream of the life-saving substance into Amelia's mouth. It healed up and she broke it again, pouring it this time over Amelia's throat._

" _Come on. Come on Amelia, drink! You stupid bitch!" Only red bubbles came out of her mouth. "Heal!" I shouted at her while Diantha kept breaking and draining out the vampire that whose shrieks were losing their intensity. We were almost out of blood. "From the source Diantha, in her mouth!" They got the message both demons bit into the vampire, pulling out draughts of blood that they spit into Amelia's mouth._

 _Finally, finally the wounds closed and the witch choked out a small breath before sucking in a lot of air. She looked at me._

" _Who are you calling bitch. Bitch. This is your fault." She smiled with red teeth._

" _How dare you almost leave me! I hate you for even trying!" I threw myself on her and tried to hug the life she had just gotten back out of her._

" _When you're done hating me, you owe me a pair of Jimmy Choos and 10 bottles of Veuve Clicquot. Oh, and a male stripper. Dressed as a fairy." I cried and buried my head in her bloody hair. Diantha slipped her hand into mine and presumably Amelia's._

 _Octavia knelt on the ground, still in shock. We heard her whispers before we realized she was even there._

" _Emilie, Catarina… Ale kache nan kabinè a, yon sèl manman te di ou. Koulye a, ti bebe mwen an!" Amelia shoved me off quickly and went over to Octavia, who was hallucinating._

" _Shh, shh, I am here. Ou lòt pitit fi ki se isit la."_

" _Ki moun ki?"_

" _Amelia."_

" _Amelia." Octavia said slowly, and shook her head._

We were all dressed in our designer duds, with Diantha having picked something that clearly belonged on a runway and probably should have stayed there, it was so… weird.

"Well I do declare dahling, your outfit is smashing!" Amelia put on her terrible British accent and was gesturing at my ensemble. I looked rickety on my heels and the color of the dress was all wrong. Thanks to Amelia.

"You know, if I can't walk we can't go shopping."

"Oh you think this big purse I'm carrying is for nothing? You can have some Tori Burch flats when you fall a total of three times. Once if you do it in front of a crowd." I was still paying back Amelia for the throat cutting thing and she kept making the price higher, knowing me as she did that my guilt would keep me trying. From anyone else…

I tripped for the first time on the stairs coming out of the private jet. The handsome pilot caught my hand and flashed me a smile. _If I had known my cargo I would have helped this one join the mile high club._

"Thank you! I'm a little unsteady on my feet. I'm unused to planes and I spent the majority of the time in the bathroom throwing up!" I tittered as his imagination of my dress wrenched up around my hips on the sink morphed into me vomiting in the toilet.

"I'm sorry to hear that." He offered. I pulled my hand from his and gave him a wan smile before walking away on my wiggly heels.

"Keep walking Steph."

"What?" I turned and saw Amelia holding her iPhone up and likely taking a video. "Oh screw you!" I pulled off the heels and walked barefoot on the dirty cement away from the plane. We had rented a limo to meet us and I stalked over to what I assumed was it.

"You're not being a very respectable woman right now Ms. Anderson." The witch was following me with her heels clicking on the ground in the careful gait of a woman experienced with such things.

"Well, I'm so rich, I don't fucking have to." I slung my heels over my shoulder, holding the pointed heel of each in one hand before opening the door.

"Carmichael?" The driver asked and Amelia leaned in behind me.

"Yes." I didn't bother giving her a look, because I didn't want to tip the driver off that something wasn't right. Octavia and the demons followed, all of us looking spectacular if I do say so myself. Except me in my orange dress, which made my tan skin and blonde hair look awful. The heels were a hot pink.

We rode in silence, the driver knowing exactly where to take us. When we arrived, our driver took out our bags that he had stored while we had waited in the limo at the air strip. Our party's exchange from one servant to another was a seamless transaction that I still marveled at seeing. Amelia on the other hand was poking at her phone, probably sending the entire video of me in heels to our office. What are best friends for.

Our bell boy took us up to the Penthouse. Amelia had told us to ignore the staff when we went into high class establishments. Only poor or middle class people gawked and asked questions of the servants. If we wanted to be rich bitches, we had to act the part. Diantha and Gladiola were already accustomed to wealth and pomp, but Octavia and I were constantly biting back our oohs and ahhs.

"Your room, madams."

"Send up five steaks, three rare and two medium rare. A la Oscar for one of the medium rares. No lemons for any of the plates. Some vegetable and carb side. And I want bottles of your best champagne available for tonight. And while you are at it, find out the best places to shop for club wear."

"Of course. Thank you madam." Our rich witch sniffed and hadn't looked away from her phone the entire time she had been speaking with the man. Now she only looked at him to hand him $200. He took it genially and bowed out. _Stuck up is fine, if they're paying out the nose for it._ I listened to be sure he didn't mean us any harm.

Diantha immediately kicked off her heels and took to jumping on the big bed. Surprise, surprise she started tossing pillows at all of us. There were a great many pillows.

"Demons against ladies!" Amelia declared.

"As your mother, I am staying out of this." Octavia left to another room that also had a bed.

"Supes against humans! I guess you're on the other team Amelia." As I slammed a pillow into her face. Diantha howled with manic laughter and flung pillows at everyone with rapid speed. Having had these kinds of battles before, I popped around the room dodging projectiles and getting in a shot here and there.

"Iamthewinner." Diantha had both Amelia and I pressed to the bed with pillows on our chests. Gladiola swung her pillow onto the side of Diantha's face, flinging her off the bed and onto the floor.

"Mercy?" The witch grinned.

"For now." Gladiola dropped the pillow and fell onto the bed next to us. Diantha crawled up and cuddled next to me. Demons love pillow fights, and cuddling.

"Why is this room arranged so strangely? There's a bed right here, and rooms off the sides with beds. Like, beds everywhere. I wouldn't be surprised if there was one in the bathroom."

"Vampire room. They like their beds. And their fucking. Sometimes not in their beds. You should know this though." Amelia rolled over and looked at me. "Have you called up Eric yet?"

"Not going to happen."

"You gotta give it up sometime toots. Why not the Viking."

"Does everyone call him that?"

"Yup. Though you'll be calling him something else when he's-"

"Don't you dare finish that!" The knock at the door let us know that our food was here. Amelia jumped up and unabashedly flung open the door. There were pillows laying in the way of the cart's path and she kicked them around to let the shocked man in.

"Here's $200. I don't expect you to not keep your mouth shut about our pillow fight, but don't get any ideas of you or anyone joining us in the fun." She gestured to the table and the man mumbled an assent before setting the dishes there.

"Ladies." He started clumsily. "The champagne is coming up shortly. We took the liberty of supplying you with a ride to a couture store that should have what you are looking for."

"We'll take it. Charge it to Carmichael's account."

"I believe that account… requires a password."

"Amelia."

"I will check and call if there are any further issues."

"Excellent." If Amelia had demon, vampire or fae teeth, she would be flashing them right now. But a crazy smile that she had learned from me would do. The terrified man left and closed the door behind him. _They are totally nuts. Is this what rich people are really like?_

"Whatwasthatabout? Youareincontactwithyourfather?"

"Nope. Daddums saw fit to go after the banks that held my accounts and convince them to not let me have them there anymore. I had to set up something in another country in order to keep my money in a bank and not under my bed. I don't even know how he found out where I banked, but he's Copley Carmichael I guess. This is just payback." We all understood that one. "Since I know he's predictable, nothing will have changed of course. Even if we can't charge it to his account I have my own money anyway. We only get one shot at this before he changes his passwords on his tabs so I intend to live it up. He checks his bills on Friday like clockwork, and it's a Saturday night."

"Solet'sshoppartyhookup?"

"K, well, since I won't be seeing any beds besides my own tonight, text me if you need an out Amelia." The girls all loved to flirt, and Amelia would often pick men up. Sometimes Diantha too if she got intoxicated, but it took a lot to get a demon drunk.

"Sounds good. But you are going to be working the menfolk with me tonight." Her eyebrows waggled. Sometimes she reminded me of Eric's pervy ways and I wondered if that was one of the reasons I got on with her so well. Who am I kidding, of course it was.

"Will do, but I can't promise I'll be helpful."

"Are you kidding? Have you looked in a mirror?"

"Have you looked at my social skills?"

"I'm confident that with the right outfit, you can get any man you set your mind to."

"Don't you always say that? I don't need a man you know."

"You've never even tried one.." She winked at me. "Now let's go shopping."


	13. Chapter 13

Thanks **Suzymeinen** for beta'ing this and chapter 12!

Special thanks to Eirikr's Fae for pre-reading!

Bonus chapter:

Our hands were full of bags and we dumped them unceremoniously in our hotel chauffeur's car and bid him to take it all back to our room. "And tell them… to pick up the pillows." Amelia leered at the driver, spinning on her heel and sauntering away to give the man a nice view of her ass.

Most times it was nice working for the government; jetting around the United States wearing the best clothes, eating the best food and having the best entertainment. We were also saving innocent lives. As the vampire and supernatural threat fell under a magnifying glass, the partrest of the government that wasn't glamoured up the wazoo wheezed out a collective "oh shit" and proceeded to fund the SSS with more money than we were paying the entire Middle East, combined. And yes that includes Israel, and they got _nukes_.

Thankfully since the SSS already had its structure in place, its leaders weren't corrupt enough to pocket the majority of the money. At first anyway. Most of it went into education and government subsidized protections for schools, homes, workplaces. The SSS lobbied to do away with copper pennies in favor of making copper chain to be used in nets and the walls of buildings to keep demons out. Silver was a harder metal to subsidize. When vampires mainstreamed, the price of silver jumped and kept climbing. We at SSS knew it was vampires, not humans, driving the price. It seemed absurd that they thought they could buy all the silver in the world, but they were trying desperately to do just that. The SSS busted this up by providing training and security details for each company's boards and executives as well as free glamor-breaking services from SSS' witches.

As for the silver that went missing, that had been another mission of ours. Find the stockpiles and get them out. That one was fun. No better way to kick a vampire in the nuts than stealing metric tonnes of a substance that weakens, poisons and kills them right out from under their nose. After asking permission from Octavia, I made sure to leave a brick of silver on the desk of each vampire who was in charge of guarding it in the first place.

The SSS as a whole had, on one hand surreptitiously busted vampires who glamoured their way into stealing people or things, and on the other had brokered a deal with vampires for a national donor registry which compensated people for donated blood that would be given to vampires. It sounded like this benefited vampires the most, but really it was designed to protect the people who normally would have been collected by vampires.

Soon college students weren't flooding to plasma centers anymore, since selling blood to vampires could get you more money. How? Well, vampires liked certain blood from certain people. Blood they never would have discovered if they hadn't gotten it through one of SSS' banks. Selling people to vampires would never work for the people or the government, but selling blood exclusively would. A human had subscribers, like some kind of a blood blogger without a face. Some would eat what their vampire clientele wanted him or her to eat so the vampires could consume the blood tinged with whatever flavor they liked.

When a vampire wanted to meet a human they were able to petition to the SSS on the matter. If a human was amenable, he or she could observe the vampire in a contained setting through a window and speak to them. If the human felt comfortable, a face-to-face meeting was arranged. SSS didn't pay for this; it only facilitated the transaction and made the vampires fork over the cash for it and a lot of it. Vampires happily paid because money was not much of an issue for many of them. Unsurprisingly other businesses sprung up with similar goals, but none rivaled the government's because of their reach, first mover advantage and strong security.

But then there were the not-so-great things that happened as a result of SSS getting more involved in Supe activities. All the new hires for positions at the Dallas location had been thoroughly vetted by yours truly, and more than one of them had been a plant or a power hungry executive looking to make a buck off of Supes. Even the best candidates weren't that great. Which meant that the higher up positions were starting to fill up in other cities with those who thought that the supernatural was a giant money-making machine made just for them.

The only truly good thing SSS had done recently was start up a project to make an impenetrable underground glorified office and training facility where no vampires, faeries or demons could get in. Maybe it would end up being a giant money pit, and yeah all the contractors were triple charging for materials and time, but it was some kind of hope for keeping vampires out of the human government on a permanent basis.

"You ready to go Sookie?" Gladiola opened the bathroom door behind me and was watching me struggle with my hair.

"Well, no- I-" She swooped over and carefully pinned back the sections of hair that didn't want to listen to me but _would_ betray me for Gladiola's attentions.

"Now you are ready." We walked out to the bed-occupied foyer. Octavia was staying in tonight, like a parent would.

"Now, none of you girls are bringing your conquests back here. Is that clear?"

"Yes mom!" We all said some version of those words like a troop of two-year-olds.

"Now be good." She kissed us all on the cheek. "Tomorrow we take on the nest." We had decided to go out tonight, just in case Mr. Carmichael got wise in the morning and ended our use of his tab. Amelia withdrew a metric ton of money with a debit card her dad had given her in case of an emergency from an account he had apparently entirely forgotten about. The witch was pulling out all the stops on her father after the banking issue.

As we walked out, I imagined what we looked like to other people. All of us wore dangerous heels and tight dresses. Diantha wore an ensemble similar the one Lady Gaga wore on tour for her album fame, all geometric shapes growing out the side of her skirt and opposite shoulder. The rest of us opted for something simple. I chose a plain, strapless black dress, Amelia went for a similar dress but the front was cut out down to her stomach and held together with a thin piece of netting. Gladiola stuck with a classic cut little-black-dress and we all wore black louboutins. Yes, we were definitely femme fatales.

 _If Eric could see me now…_ He'd pick Amelia to be sure.

"Hide that fairy tonight." Amelia said to me seriously.

"Done and done." I even took the liberty of slipping out of my fae form just in case.

My phone rang at that moment and I picked it up, knowing e _xactly_ who was calling.

"Yes Richard?"

"You were supposed to call when you landed."

"Well we didn't. And we're busy."

"I am the director of operations and I won't see you and my operatives deviating from established protocol."

"Give me that." The witch snatched it away. "Yes, Richard? No, shut the fuck up and listen. The relationship works like this. You say deal with this problem, we deal with it. On our terms, not yours. No, you don't have to like it and none of us care if you don't. We do our fucking jobs and we don't need you in the way of them. Yeah well that's too bad, bye!" She hung up on him. "Steph, I know he brought you in and showed you the ropes, but did you really have to help him get that promotion?"

"He's been inadvertently helpful though… I feel bad just using him for information about fae, even if he is tight lipped about most of it."

"Soyoucankillabunchofpeople, butnotstanduptoawhinyman?"

"He _really_ means well…"

"Richard is out for Richard, Stephanie. Remember that." Gladiola so rarely made commentary, and that meant I had to think carefully on what she said. Richard wasn't mean, but he was possessive of his work and of the fact that _he_ had discovered my talent. I had allowed him to trade on my abilities to get into higher positions in the SSS and now he was heading up our operations. He protected my secret at every turn, providing me a smoke screen by taking credit for my mind reading busts by presenting evidence that I had stolen the location of from the person in question's mind.

"Ok. Yeah. I'll think about it."

"Iwanttogoalready." Diantha was pouting. We all made it to the limo and were on our way to some club that the driver suggested. The building we pulled up to had a line around the side of the building and the two bouncers, clearly vampire, were not letting a soul in. I could hear the thoughts that the people at the front of the line had waited for three hours. Yikes.

Gladiola was looking at her phone and zooming out on the map. She texted all of us. _This is the location of the nest we are to take out._

"Well I'll be." Amelia looked put out and Diantha also scowled and crossed her arms.

"So do we go ahead with this?" I looked to Gladiola.

"It is against… protocol." She smiled with mischief in her eyes.

"AKA screw with Richard? Then we're definitely going!" The witch opened up the door and breezed out and up to the guard. We fumbled out of the car behind her. Or I did at least, while the demons glided gracefully over the pavement. Stupid demons and their stupid awesomeness.

The bouncer took a look at Amelia and smiled with a little fang, trying to play a part and hoping to scare some wealthy man's toys at the same time. We were wearing expensive clothing and vampires were, if anything, discerning when it came to fashion.

"Oh put those away. We don't want to see that." She snapped and motioned for him to step aside. I thought he would kill her, but he stood stock still looking at Amelia with aplomb. Not many people talked back to vampires and got away with it. Since we had never been undercover, this was our first time pretending in front of vampires that we were no threat. Amelia had to take the lead on this one. I didn't think any one of us could act the part Amelia played so well.

"The line's back there, no matter how," He eyed us all lustfully, "delectable you may be."

"Here." She gave the bouncer $20k and sniffed like she was disgusted to be talking with a _bouncer_ of all people, and motioned for him to step aside. "We'll be in the VIP club, classing up the joint if you need us." The vampire looked stunned at the amount of money he'd been given in cash and gestured for us to go in. I'd be surprised too if it were me.

We knew not to discuss the mission in the club itself. Vampire hearing and all. Diantha immediately ran off to dance, jumping on one of the stripper poles in the center of the room. Gladiola filtered into the crowd, looking to engage with the patrons there to ask seemingly innocuous questions.

"Well look at the size of that distraction Steph." Nodding at Diantha swirling around the pole like a professional. A lot of the drunk humans and even a few vampires were watching the demon slink up and down the pole. She climbed it with the inside of her calves, reaching the top before flipping herself upside down using only her arms to slide all the way back down, legs twirled around the pole. Diantha was always a spectacle and she shamelessly pulled as many faces as possible to look at her lithe, athletic body. Also her panties.

"Attention whore." Amelia shook her head and pulled me to the bar to get a drink and as we sidled up the bartender immediately ignored everyone else to serve us.

"Ladies…" His fangs slipped down. Oh come on, we weren't that hot.

"Aren't you supposed to wait to do that until we ask for it?" I said in what I hoped was a not too irritated voice. He didn't pull them back up but instead he held his hand out, palm up. "My apologies ladies. But you are too beautiful to resist."

Amelia knew what the gesture was and placed her hand in his and he raised it for a kiss while trying to give her a devastatingly handsome look. Thankfully Amelia had anti-glamour contacts on and I couldn't be glamoured so we wouldn't be staying with any vampires tonight. Though why this vampire was comfortable touching us was uncomfortable in its own right.

The bartender deftly released Amelia's hand and leaned towards me to offer the same.

"You had one hand, that's enough mister!"

The bartender backed up and laughed heartily. "Your drinks are on the house… ladies…" I did not like the way he said 'ladies' and Amelia didn't either, but you wouldn't know it from her charming smile.

"Aviation, for both of us." She liked ordering complicated things, forcing bartenders to look at their books. This one did not do so and sped off to have our drinks ready. He was back in no time pouring the chilled violet liquid into two frosty martini glasses. Amelia sighed, thwarted.

"Well then. Shall we?" Leading on men of all sorts was her game of choice, and turning our backs to a horny vampire was the pinnacle of having game. We walked towards the VIP area and encountered a more serious and better dressed bouncer. Amelia sighed and pulled out another $20k giving the man a withering look _._ The man nodded at her and gestured for us to walk in. A vampire waitress descended on us and directed us to an empty circular table with a cushioned bench wrapping around.

"Will you ladies be requiring company?"

"We may, but I assume we'll attain that on our own. A bottle of your best white on ice." Amelia winked at the vampire. This one didn't flash fang when she smiled before speeding off. It took no time for my friend to pull out her phone and start playing with it again. I sighed and did the same, intending to listen to the patrons at the bar in order to find the pets. I found maybe two before we were approached.

"About time." Amelia said aloud and patted the seat next to her while she scooted closer to me. The two male vampires looked quizzical, which didn't seem like an expression they had on their faces often. "Oh don't tell me you weren't coming over to keep us company?" Her batting lashes snapped them out of it as they took seats on either side of us.

They were both aged enough to be frightening; about 500 for the one next to me and 300 or a bit more for the one next to Amelia. We'd been this close to old ones before, but only right before we killed them. Both of us knew who at least one of these vampires could be, but maybe we could be wrong, right? Right?

"We very well couldn't leave the daughter of Copley Carmichael unattended in our bar. The shame would be unbearable. I am Robert, the king of California." He did not bother to shake either of our hands, but instead put his arm around me possessively. Oh. Shit.

"I am Robert's second, Albert." Both were beautiful for vampires. Vampires always were, but they were no Eric Northman. Albert was a sandy blond, and had sinewy muscle like a pale surfer guy. Robert was broader, but like Bill's tall, dark and handsome. The similarities ended there, as Robert possessed a better haircut, darker brown eyes, perfectly chiseled features and yes… those broad shoulders. When I blinked my eyes, I thought of Eric sitting next to me and I felt a little arousal.

And that helped. Robert eased himself into a lazy smile and twirled a blonde lock of mine in his hand. Aroused women were the women vampires knew best. Amelia required no prompting to show a little interest. She had been with a few vampires, which was astonishing given her history. They had only been women, but she assured me they were pure sex on a stick. Not that my limited experience with Eric hadn't already told me as much.

"Unless you tell me otherwise, I will have to assume you arrived for the both of us as… entertainment." Robert huskily said into my ear, loud enough for Amelia to hear.

"We're interested in gentlemanly company, not for your amusement. Girls night out you know." Amelia purred, putting her elbows on the table and leaning forward with her chin between her hands as a show of courage. Or an I-don't-give-a-fuck attitude. Both vampires knew perfectly well that two well dressed women at a table in the VIP section weren't there for feeding and fucking unless it was wanted.

"Perhaps you'd like to enjoy a more intimate setting." It wasn't a question as much as it was an invitation that we must accept.

"I'd love to."

"Your friend too?" Robert still clutched me with one arm, having at least let go of my hair. I could feel him taking my scent in. I couldn't completely mask because having no scent at all would alert the vampires that something wasn't right. And worse yet, my scent was like a dimmer switch; I couldn't make myself smell any different than my characteristic sweetness. I knew Robert was asking for consent, which was a joke in this circumstance. If he wanted, he could have snatched us both up and vamped away.

"Y-yes." I stammered out. _Think of Eric, think of him in his black tank, and tight leather jeans…_ If this vampire thought I wasn't attracted to him, he'd want to know why. I felt another wave of desire thinking about the fair haired _naughty_ vampire with his hands drifting over my stomach. Let Robert think that was for him.

The vampires led us past the waitress who looked at us neutrally. The hall led to several doors and the one we went through opened up to a well appointed room that was dimly lit. There were only a few tables and they were linen-clad, set well away from each other with their patrons faces hidden by the shadows. It was the VVIP section.

As soon as we arrived, we were led away down another hall. Both Amelia and I recognized the layout for what it was. This would lead to a playroom and we'd only be going there if the vampires had unscrupulous intentions.

"I think I'd like to go sit in the other room, if you please." Amelia stopped walking and crossed her arms, acting for all the world that she was throwing a fit about not being given what she thought she deserved.

"Oh but there's more to see sweetling. I promise it will be good." This was a bad idea from the start. Why the fuck did we think this was a good idea. All the possibilities flashed in front of me. What's going to happen is that we get into the room, there's torture devices, they threaten us and we have to comply because if we are more than what we seem, they come after us and tell the rest of their kind about us. This isn't some backwater nest. This is a king's castle. Fuck fuck fuck. I could see Amelia was afraid too and that the vampires could scent how we felt.

"Don't worry my lovelies, what lies beyond that door is so much more befitting ladies such as yourselves." Albert had Amelia's arm in a death grip waiting to happen. Robert didn't even bother, given that he assumed I was the weak willed one in this situation. He was half-right, but I was also the one who would have to save us if things went wrong. And we were rushing recklessly towards that destination.

"Mm, no. I think we would like to go now." Albert and Robert exchanged a look before Albert clamped his hands around Amelia's mouth and snaked his other arm around her midsection. Robert also put his hand over my lips and spared me a long stroke of his fingers from my neck to the back of my ass. He flipped me around and looked deeply into my eyes as Albert did the same to Amelia.

"You are going to be quiet and obedient until you get in the room and I have you subdued in chains or ropes. When I'm done trussing you, I want you to remember this moment and realize that I can make you do whatever I please, and you should be afraid of me. Scream, even, if it lessens your burdensome human emotions. If you're both good, we'll let you go. If you're bad… You'll be spending more time with us."

He thrust his hand between my legs and curled his finger around the fabric protecting my labia, his knuckle tucked between my folds. When he pulled it out, he licked his finger with relish. His eyes flickered with wonder and then intense desire.

"Sweet. So very sweet."

"Robert, this one has anti-glamor contacts in."

"Leave them for now."

Neither of us said a word. Amelia couldn't and if I did I'd blow our cover and Amelia would have her head taken off then and there. They led us to the door and upon opening we could see how thick it was, designed to keep things in. Like sounds and people. Vampires even. If this was completely iron, I couldn't get us out. Our fears were confirmed that this was in fact the torture-fuck room and the entire thing was clad in steel, but the floor. Sweet mother of god the floor was just cement and I could pass through that with someone. I noticed the drains under two sets of shackles and suppressed a shudder. Blood did make a right mess.

Our respective vampires led us to be fettered. I could escape the iron, but what of Amelia? I opened my mind to her.

 _Steph, I don't know what to do here. Allow them to string us up?_

I looked at the floor and blinked in morse code, not making eye contact. _For now._

"Please, not the manacles. I'll do what you want, but I don't want to be strung up." Amelia was begging, being the apparently non-glamored one of us two. The vampires laughed and looked at each other.

"If anyone will be hanging from the ceiling, it won't be your glamored friend."

 _What about Gladiola and Diantha. Can we signal them?_

I blinked again. _No._ _Notice us missing._

 _Oh right! So they make a distraction, leave and we portal out without them seeing?_

 _Yes._

 _But how long will we be here?_

 _Don't know._

 _You'll get us out before it gets bad?_

I really, really did not want anyone to know about me. But not saving Amelia and myself wasn't an option here and I couldn't imagine being so selfish, truly. _Yes._

While we talked, her mind to my blinking, Amelia had her wrists locked in and her strapless dress eased off her body. Normally vampires would happily rip clothing off and not doing so meant they had intent to let us walk out of here at some point. Amelia looked lean, toned and strong and I was jealous that she could likely pull herself up in the air by the strength of her arms and maybe pick the locks on her hand herself, if given the opportunity. Not that I was weak, but I had breasts that got in the way of everything, and my hips didn't allow me to shimmy out of tight spaces or anything like that.

Robert led me over to a bed that had basic nylon ties that would only rub my wrists raw if I fought, instead of pinch and bruise like handcuffs. He laid me on my back and straddled me, leaning down to take in the characteristic scent that had enticed Eric and Bill in the same manner. I kept my face blank while he strapped me in and noticed he was excitedly waiting to have me at his mercy when the glamor wore off, but was also tinged with agitation. I knew what he had in mind would not be pleasant when he told me I'd remember when he had me restrained. He _wanted_ me to scream. When he was finished, he pulled back and waited, looking angry now.

I fluttered my eyes as if waking up from a dream, like I'd seen unglamored humans do when our witches broke the memory block for those who wished. Instinctively I pulled at the ties. I'd wanted to so badly before, but knew if I didn't lay prostrate while being tied, Robert would end me without a thought.

"P-Please let me go. Don't hurt my friend, please." I didn't even have to act when I pleaded with him. Instead of screaming like he would have wanted, I cried real tears of fear.

"I will let your friend remain unscathed if you cooperate with me." Albert snarled and Robert returned it before looking back down at me appraisingly. "I'll be keeping you and I want you to be...happy. I want you to know I can be benevolent and you should be grateful that I've already decided I won't share you." Albert started unstringing Amelia soon after Robert's words.

"See? Your friend will come to no harm, and she will be glamored to protect her from all… this." His hand gestured to the room before he moved just enough to pull my legs up over his shoulder and hold my hips at face level, his mouth and nose against my panties. "Virgin." He looked at me with an expression that could have been called wonder were he not a vampire. Gently he laid me back down and pulled the hem of my dress back over my thighs. He looked reverent as he licked my neck to my jaw, and finally over my cheek to my temple, taking his fangs along with. I could see out of the corner of my eye that Amelia was terrified for me and Albert was leading her out of the room. Robert returned to his position straddling my torso, and I could see how much he wanted… what he wanted.

"Now my dear, we're not going to do anything tonight to jeopardize your innocence. When you yield, you'll be begging me for the privilege." I squirmed and whimpered, damnably encouraging him to place his lips over mine. He stabbed between my teeth with his tongue before coating his lips with my saliva. When he rose, he looked pleased, touching his now wet mouth with a finger and licking it carefully.

"I want you to take my blood."

"MM mmm!" I clamped my mouth shut, knowing he'd have to force my jaw open to make me obey. I thrashed under him, trying to buck him with my hips as he laughed and laughed. Pinning me by my hair he looked deeply into my eyes and I felt the pressure of his glamor rising.

"Open your fucking mouth for your new master. Don't fight me or attack me when I untie you." My face was a schooled impression of a glamored human. He sat up and no longer straddled me, opting to lay down next to me as he released my bindings. I'd studied glamored people a lot, enough to know that movements outside of the commands were normal. My wrists already had burns on them from the nylon and I whimpered again as I rubbed them. Robert responded by comforting me in the only way most vampires knew how, by caressing my curves and trying to arouse me with his fingers at my breasts and between my legs. I turned my body towards him, keeping my face submissive as I parted my lips.

He surprised me by pushing two fingers in my mouth before his attempt to feed me his blood. "Suck." If he was going to do next what I thought he was, I was so not letting him. When he pulled my fingers out, he reached under my dress and attempted to move my panties aside. Before he got any further, I slammed my head against his and punched him right in the crotch. He was so stunned he didn't even attack or pin me. I dove out of the bed and ran for the door, but he was there in front of me blocking the way.

"You pretended."

"You bet I did buster! Now let me go!"

"No. You're mine now."

"I'm no one's! Do you hear me you stupid vampire?"

"Loud and clear." His hand clamped around my neck and he slowly walked me backwards to the bed as I tried to stop him without tripping. A banging on the door interrupted him before he could force me down to my back.

"My liege, there are two women who are demanding that we return their friend. They are making a scene." Amelia must have been successfully glamored. Robert took one last look at me before caressing my cheek with the back of his hand. The door was shut with the click of a lock and I was left alone before I could blink. When we had walked to the back I had taken my purse with and I snagged it before jumping to the parking lot out front. A quick text to the demons and Amelia let them know I was safe and outside. Even if Amelia didn't know anymore that I had been in danger, she would come out too.

I waited a couple minutes, knowing that they were calming down, pretending that I wasn't actually missing and that I had clearly wandered off to makeout with someone. Diantha and Gladiola hauled ass out of the bar dragging Amelia with them.

"She's been glamored." Gladiola's tone was sharp with concern.

"I know. King Robert is about to find out that I am gone from his dungeon. I'm going to take her back now."

"Go inside the limo. We will wait for the attack." Amelia was foggy after her glamor, following me placidly to the door. I carefully pushed her inside and shut us in. We were back in the hotel room and Amelia still looked like the glamor had taken a giant crap on her brain.

"Octavia!" The other witch walked into the room, concerned at my tone of voice. "She's been glamored. I have to go back." I shifted away from Octavia back into the limo. Stepping out I was confronted with Diantha and Gladiola glaring at Robert and Albert.

"Where the fuck is-... she." Robert saw me and his face contorted with rage.

"Let's not do this in the parking lot boys. Maybe we could go back to your room and play a little. This time, you wear the cuffs." I taunted.

Robert shot towards me, but Diantha caught his arm and swung him around to throw him into the front wall of the club. The demons sprouted their needle-sharp teeth and widened their jaws to accommodate their new fangs. Albert looked unwilling to engage, but turned to attack Gladiola anyway. They both moved at vampire and demon speed around the parking lot. All I heard was crashing as they fought on every surface. Gladiola had always been faster than most vampires and she ended Albert with her large sword sliced through the vampire's neck as she kneeled on top of the very dented limo.

I most definitely did not change into fae, as I was more of a liability if found out than the two demons. Diantha had not been faring as well with Robert, having taken more cuts than normal. The demon had been repaying the favor by taking fingers off with her mouth, which was a tactic the vampire had failed to anticipate.

The worst thing about this whole scenario is that neither witch was here to provide temporary shields for the demon's extremities. At least Octavia had spells that prevented others from remembering who we were when we walked out of their sight that were always active. But I could tell we were sorely missing our witches.

When the king noticed his second was dead, he roared and struck twice at Diantha's midsection in quick succession. He pulled out Diantha's intestines as she screamed in agony. Gladiola nodded at me and we both raced for Diantha and Robert. The king knew in that instant that the two demons were likely family and he reached down at vampire speed to torture Diantha further by digging his hands into her bowels and twisting.

All of this had happened in the space of about 30 seconds, which was all the time needed for vampires to start flooding out of the club. I reached Diantha with Gladiola just as the first vampire boiled out of the front door and portaled them back to the 24/7 medical room staffed with the best Supe doctors besides Dr. Ludwig. If anyone could save her, they could. The only problem was that Robert had come with us.


	14. Chapter 14

Thanks Suzymeinen for beta'ing

I had appeared right into the infirmary, which thank heaven was equipped for violent Supes. Robert was again so surprised that I had just enough time to shove him off of Diantha and Gladiola to portal him to a containment room made especially for vampires. Looks like the doctors would not have to use the colloidal silver spray today.

I had to trust that the medical staff would see to Diantha, and I headed back to the hotel. Amelia was coming out of her stupor. Octavia, ever the planner, had brought at least two potions to rid a person of vampire glamor. Amelia stood up with her memories returned, horrified.

"Get the bags." We rushed to throw our luggage and clothes into the center of the room. I could take it all with us if I touched it. Octavia started yelling at Amelia, following the witch into each room while they gathered their things.

"We could lose the team itself! You barreled into the very vampire nest we were to take out to do what? Scouting? You ought to be ashamed of yourself. If anyone dies because of you I'll see to it you _never_ go out in the field again. Do you understand me?!" Amelia looked shocked for a moment and then her face changed to fear.

"Is anyone hurt Steph?" Her eyes begged me to tell her that there wasn't anything wrong.

"Yeah, Diantha is hurt pretty bad." Octavia slapped the witch across the face. We were all silent after the sound of skin on skin.

"We have to go-" I interrupted.

"Take us." The elder witch yanked Amelia's wrist and we held our luggage together. The only place I could think of was the room where the witches did their spell casting. As soon as I felt everything fall into place, I said. "Infirmary, drop the bags."

We were now in the observer's room, watching the doctors work on Diantha.

There were no anesthetics for demons, none having been developed. They had done the best they could and put the two sisters next to each other on beds, both of their wounds being attended to. Gladiola held Diantha's hand and looked into her sister's eyes. The doctors had started blood transfusions on Diantha, looping in Gladiola to donate as well as putting as large a dose as they dared of vampire blood into her body. No demon had ever been turned before that we knew, but there was a first time for everything.

I could see her guts everywhere, spread out over a table on the other side of her body as the doctors carefully checked each part of the long muscle for tears. Diantha coughed and spit blood on the floor. She wasn't healing at all and the doctors were having trouble clamping down on all the sources of blood pumping out from her body.

"Oh my god. Oh no. Please, please." I could see Amelia having flashbacks as her panic attack set in and she hyperventilated and ran to Octavia. The elder witch had refused to look through the window and held tight to Amelia.

I couldn't speak. Diantha and her beloved, strange, torn up clothes were laying on the table below.

***Eric***

It was worse than boring. Each night was a centimeter more agonizing than the last. New faces to hate, old faces to glare at more and no sundress to walk through the door and take it all away. I wasn't as unwise to think that vampires had no feelings. If anything we were always feeling as sharply as our other senses. Hence the rampant killing, moody vampires, obsessive nesting behavior, short sightedness in many of our kind due to impulse control issues, and a whole assortment of other somewhat superfluous oddities.

"Three." Pam pulled the woman that had face planted on the floor onto her feet and pushed her back into the crowd. I had pressed my foot right on her ass and shoved. That's what the vermin got for coming too close. I wasn't blissfully unaware that since I had settled into a deep seeded coldness, that every fangbanger in the bar wanted to be that special girl that livened me up with her blood and sex.

Another. Hand this time, and a good thing I was wearing gloves too. This one was caught by her friends who instead of being angry, giggled amongst themselves that one of them had gotten so close and that maybe, just maybe next time a little bit closer. "Four." Pam whispered across the bar and smiled. We had thought that my behavior would push the clientele away. Not so. Business was better than ever, and since I had not picked any woman for sex recently, even the men thought they had a chance.

It had been only 6 months since Sookie went missing. At her behest I had not killed the shifter, but made it very clear to him he was alive only by the grace of Sookie's request. My thwarted expectations for my conversation with Sookie had been the beginnings of my anger at her leaving. There were things that I needed to know, given that she was almost mine. It did not matter that she was a royal fae, only that she was a compelling mixture of soft and sweet, confident and headstrong. She was exactly the kind of bonded I wanted.

Oh I was furious when she left. I had railed at Niall and I had destroyed my office several times, demanding Pam fix everything so I could wreck it all again. _My_ pretty fucking fairy had taken apart a vampire in front of my eyes. I would have let her rake those poisonous claws down my back if she would agree to yield. After all that happened, all I had done to preserve her and protect her, she asked me to leave her with the shifter. My rage was cold, and knew no bounds. One night I had given her before taking her to my home to talk. One fucking night that I regretted immensely.

The anger I had started morphing into fixation, taking on new facets. I would think that I saw her in the crowd of the bar, her blond hair cascading down her back. Sometimes at night out of the corner of my eye I could see her in her fae form, standing by a tree shining silver in the dark. It plucked at my sanity, eroding my moxie into long periods of thought where Pam could jolt me into awareness and tell me I'd been staring straight ahead without moving for hours when it felt like fifteen minutes. It had nothing to do with my imagining her, only… I wanted her so badly that I subsisted on the few memories I had of her. It was a calling, my occupation to yearn for her.

When I thought about her, I knew there was no real difference between the two Sookies, human and fae, to me. I desired them both and they felt like one whole being. When she had changed into her fae form in front of me she began to make _sense._ All of the pieces of her clicked together and I felt a torrent of need. I never thought she would run, but I overestimated her attachment to me by blood and underestimated her losses.

Yes, we vampires _feel_. Quickly and hard, with no hesitation. Why wait when you've lived long enough to know exactly what you want? I think this was the core of why humans found some of the older vampires to be deranged in their behavior. But if that thing that we wanted was what made us happy, nothing was going to stand in our way. Not even time.

She made me want to be happy, and worse she had laid waste to my stable but unfulfilling life. It was sheer luck that no one noticed why I had changed beyond a newfound boredom. If anyone but Bill had been king, they would have worried I was becoming irritated with being only a Sheriff. But Bill knew, and we both grieved in our own way.

It was obvious to me now that Sookie did not know how beautiful she was as a human and how valuable her lack of fear and her expectation to be treated as an equal amongst vampires was a rarity for her kind. I could see her compassion, but also her cutting power of judgement. If she had been revealed as a deity, benevolent but severe in the imposition of a penalty, it would not have surprised me.

The fact that she had used me that night to confront Niall, drawing the very blood from my body into her light and that I did not despise her for it, told me all I needed to know about the needs of my dead heart. _I must find her._

It was the first night she went missing that I called Niall through other channels and received his call on my personal cell promptly.

"Where is she?" I said without preamble.

"Would I have made this call if I knew?"

"She's your kind and you always find each other, so I'll ask you again, where is she?"

"We will use your blood bond to find her." He ignored my question.

"It's gone. It was broken and I don't know how." There was a quiet moment on the line before Niall resumed speaking.

"When I taught her to cloak, it was only the first step. You must not repeat this vampire, but our gifts manifest through fear, not training. We can only refine techniques. Sometimes we don't need to be shown how to use our power. She wanted to be away from the both of us, so she is."

"You're not… Manipulating me, are you. You can't find her either."

"No. And in this case we have the same goal. If I find her first, I will do my best to attain her and keep her away from you. But… I will not withhold any information I have on the search. It is more important that she be found. You should be warned that her development will make her more fae than human and far less inclined to acquiesce to any demands you may have."

"I will try anyway and I accept the terms of your help. What do you know?" He knew nothing more than I, which wasn't much. Damn it all.

 _***_ Stephanie***

"I tender my resignation effective immediately."

"You are under contract. You cannot walk-"

"Are you going to stop me?" Gladiola said softly. Richard balked and turned red with impotency. "Your actions make me want to see you try." The demoness had never made a true threat in our presence.

"Very well. Octavia, you will assist Holly and your sole purpose will be to break bonds, is that understood?"

"Yes." Octavia was staring at a wall intently, blinking her empty-looking eyes.

"Amelia. You are released from your contract as a result of the events in your mission-" Gladiola interrupted.

"It was more my fault than hers. I agreed. We all agreed to go in, including Diantha. This makes us all equally responsible for what happened."

"You know very well why I am choosing to remove Amelia. But let me spell it out for you in case you don't understand. I know I can't compel you to do _anything_ you don't want to do. Further, should you decide to stay we could not afford to spend time punishing you, your abilities are too coveted. This is not the case for Amelia."

"And Stephanie falls into the same category I assume." Gladiola continued. "You would readily dispose of our team for a simple mistake-"

"This was not a simple fucking mistake! You went into the nest without authorization without any contact to SSS. If you had contacted us you would have known that Robert had decided to be there that night! Your sister, one of our best, is dead!"

"Do you think we don't know that?!" Amelia waded into the fray. "We all loved her, unlike you. Do you think I don't know what I've done and that we're all thinking about how we could have acted differently?!" Richard roared back.

"The king of California is locked up in a containment room in the SSS! Besides Diantha, you have no idea how royally you have fucked us! We have no authorization to kill him, but we can't let him go. And because he's here, those higher than I have to get involved. Now, since they are, if I don't do something to show how tight a ship we have, breaking up the team will be the least of our problems! Now listen closely, because you need to understand this witch. It was you or Octavia. And I picked her because I know she needs this more than you, and you were the most responsible. You at least have a daddy to run along home to. So go. Run." He ground out the last words. Amelia fled, showing none of the bravery of her words. Richard had said just about the worst thing he could have possibly come up with and flung it in Amelia's face. The witch was afraid of a few things: losing those she loved and letting them down. Diantha was dead and she was kicked out of SSS for putting us in danger.

I remembered the defibrillator and the blood. Gladiola speaking in a rough tongue to Diantha and stroking her hair. The screams and sobs of Amelia, Octavia's whispers about her dead children. The white sheets were soaked and I wanted to press my hand down on them to stop the blood seeping from Gran's chest. When it was over, the room moved in slow motion. Doctors and nurses pulling off their masks in defeat and slowly removing their tools away from the scene. Unclamping her entrails, pushing them back inside, sealing her up out of courtesy. Mopping the blood from her decimated body. Gladiola could not be peeled away from her sister and hissed and took swipes at all who dared come near. When the doctors left I apparated in and locked eyes with the living demon.

"Take us here. Now." Gladiola shoved a thought at me, and for the first time I heard her mind and saw what she thought in great detail. The demon picked up her sister and I tentatively touched her arm to take us to where she wanted to go. We stood outside a large house in the sunshine. The contrast between Diantha's body, her blood on Gladiola and the chirping birds made me feel disoriented. Servants poured out the front door and stood waiting on the sides of the stairs, eyes averted downward. A man, a demon who was clearly full blooded walked out carefully in his fitted suit. His eyes were a golden yellow and I watched him take in the scene that lay before him.

"I will marry, father. Whoever you choose." The man only nodded and beckoned her up the stairs. She trudged away, handing Diantha's body to a servant. She then came back to me and stood at my side.

"I will finish it and will be here at sundown." He had nodded at Gladiola before addressing me.

"Fae."

"Demon?"

"Give my regards to your Prince."

"Uh, will do." He walked away, following Gladiola's bloody footprints up the stairs. I warped back with Gladiola to my bunk.

We had ended up in Richard's office shortly after Gladiola's return from her demon home, getting reamed out for our error. As with all things, I blamed myself. Diantha could have been saved if I had grabbed the girls first thing and left. Instead I let them take on a vampire king and his second just so I could protect my gift. How idiotic could I be? Amelia had been Amelia, always barreling into situations, which should have been accounted for in the equation. I'm supposed to balance us, not enable poor choices.

"Stephanie." I jerked back to the present when he called my name. "You are also too valuable to let go. Don't mistake my words for being only hurtful, but you have nowhere to go. You will stay here and I will assign you a new mission shortly."

"Fine." It was less than fine. I knew Richard was right and that he didn't mean to be the way he was, but he had showed no real compassion for the death of Diantha. That was the turning point in my relationship with Richard. The man could not see that life wasn't "The Richard Lingon Show". In this case, we were villains who made his life difficult. He had very little sympathy for Diantha's death, because it had been her own fault for disobeying orders. He cared primarily that she had been one of the "best" fighters. Fuck him.

"Now explain to me, all of you, how you went from the vampire nest in California, to our medical ward, into the vampire containment room and managed to take all your luggage with you. Hmm?"

"It was a one time escape by demon magic." Gladiola stated. "It requires a great deal of energy and I will not be performing it for SSS ever again." Richard pulled his hair with his hands and veins stood out on the sides of his forehead. If there was one thing he hated more than not having control and events happening outside of his purview, it was when one of his operatives had abilities that he had not been made aware. In Richard's mind we owed him any information or skillsets we had so he could see to their best use. And that was exactly why I had hidden most of mine.

"You are all dismissed."

Octavia, Gladiola and I left Richard's office. Octavia was spaced out and walked away without addressing us, and we didn't try and stop her. She looked a wreck. Gladiola gestured at me to follow. We ended up at her and Diantha's personal quarters, which no one had been in but them. It scared me to violate Diantha's privacy, more so because she was gone.

"I don't- I don't want to go in."

"For Diantha, you must." My head down, I stepped through the doorway.

"You will help me kill Robert."'

"Yes." I sighed. That was a solution I liked. I was filled with anger now and it didn't make me sad anymore to kill or help kill someone who needed to die.

"I will give you a book that I have held onto for you. It is a fae book, and it shows a limited history on the fae. For those who know what to look for, this is a book on training your powers that only reveals itself to the fae. You will be able to read both the histories and training, as they are meant to arrange themselves in the language of the one reading them."

"I had no idea there were such things. Why am I receiving this only now? And how did you get It?"

"For your first question, demons have such things, but they are only accessible to demons. Fae are the same. Because we are all of magic, all of our ritual objects and books are tied to our races. I found this because it wanted me to find it and when I met you, I knew it wanted me to give it to you, but I waited until the magic of the book told me when. I had planned to present it to you upon completion of this mission." She placed the book on her bed. The room was otherwise bare; there had been nothing to show the girls had ever been here. "Take this after, and when we are finished we shall have another conversation. I assume you know where the cameras are and how to break them with your light. Transport me into his cage and I will take care of the rest." Gladiola had said more words than I had ever heard from her at once.

"Wait, one last question. How did the book _want_ to get to me?"

"We are magic and life, mostly magic. The book is magic and calls to you. Magic is finicky but often wise in the sense that it takes any path available to get to its desired person or place. It picked me because it seemed to know I would meet you and be able to protect it until you were ready."

"Prescient books. Great."

"No my fae friend, eternal magic." I had no idea what to think of all this and there wasn't time. The demon deserved her kill and I would be cruel to not provide it to her.

"Thank you Gladiola. Now?"

"Yes."

"Alrighty." I did as she had bade me and fried all the cameras in the area. The alarms had gone off and that gave us about 5 minutes of time for her to get in and out. When I came back to the room Gladiola had maxed out on demon, more so than I had ever seen her. She reminded me of me, but red, horns, no silver teeth and claws. Her feet and legs too had grown out much like a cat or dog's, making it look like her knees were bending backwards, though I knew anatomically they were up higher than that. "Ready?"

"Yes." Her voice had changed to a deepthroated growl that sounded positively nightmarish. Off we went. I had peered into Robert's cell before and I knew he was laying on his bed staring at the ceiling. It was in and out for me, and I barely saw the vampire get up from his bed before I was gone. Waiting outside, I heard slams and then screams. They were not Gladiola's thank god.

When it was silent, I looked into the viewing glass and saw that the demon was done. She stood with her eyes closed and face tilted up to the ceiling. I popped in.

"Amelia is in the spell room. We will go there."

"Okay." Off we went, arriving to watch Amelia pack up what little was hers in the room. She stopped and looked at Gladiola covered in grey ash and smiled, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"You got him."

The demon beckoned Amelia to us. She dropped her stuff and walked on over with pain etched on her face.

"Sookie. Amelia. Take my blood and my tears. Should you need me, my blood can be called. My tears will lay claim to you as my flock. No demon can touch you without consequence." Gold fluid streamed down Gladiola's face on either side and she caught each tear with a finger before offering them up to our lips. We took it, and I could feel it pleasantly burn in my mouth. She then stuck her tongue between her now sharp teeth and bit down. "Kiss me." Her mouth met mine and I swallowed her equally hot blood. I could feel her love, in her own demon way. Other alien sensations crept over me, and I could not name what Gladiola thought or felt as anything similar to what was in my mind. When she left my lips, I felt dizzy. Amelia and I looked at each other and at Gladiola before embracing together in a tight hug.

"Invite us to the wedding." I said. Amelia looked surprised, but then nodded at the demon.

"Before I go… Amelia, we must talk to Sookie now."

"WIthout Octavia?" Amelia looked torn and she begged Gladiola with her eyes that the whole thing, whatever it was, could be avoided.

"This cannot wait." Gladiola was firm.

"Fine…" The witch looked away and looked back at me before averting her eyes.

"Ya'll can stop talking about me like I'm not standing here." Whatever they were up to, it was no good.

"Sookie." Gladiola had walked and stood next to Amelia. "What we have to say is not something you will want to hear."

"Ok…" My head was throbbing with worry that they were blaming me for Diantha's death, and that they didn't want me in their lives anymore. They must have seen the look on my face and knew what it meant, because Amelia spoke next.

"We're only saying this because we love and care about you. We wouldn't be good friends if we weren't honest with you." The brunette started to grow in confidence with what she was saying. And when Amelia got confident, conversations with her could be domineering.

"Um, I suppose. What is there to be honest about that you haven't already told me?"

"Well," Amelia looked at Gladiola for support and the demon nodded a go-ahead. "There's three things. One, you need to stop blaming yourself for Gran's death. It's-"

"Wait now-"

"No buts Sookie!" Amelia continued, picking up steam. "You just keep sitting there, wallowing and letting it hold you back. It makes you think that you don't deserve good things. It's why in the past year or so you've been with us your fae gifts have _barely_ improved. You're selling yourself short and we won't have it anymore!"

"How dare you-" Gladiola held a hand up.

"You will listen, fae." I bit down on the rest of my reply.

"As I was saying. We're right sick of your shit Sookie. And we're not going to stand here and see you hide behind us anymore. We wanted to wait to tell you, until later. I assume Gladiola gave you the book. It was meant to be a gift after we told you… told you this."

"I'm not fucking hiding!"

"Yes you fucking are! You know, our times have been good, but sometimes I think you've squandered it by never pushing yourself. Always thinking about how you could hurt others if you took any risks, never thinking about how taking care of yourself would prevent the people you love from being hurt. It's like you don't even have an endgame planned outside of the SSS. You're a _fairy_ for chrissake, you've got a whole world of things to do besides this!"

"Ok, you have a flippin' point Amelia, but seriously! You didn't have to stage an intervention!" The demon stepped forward and put her two cents in.

"Yes we did. You will train your gifts now, with these books. And you will stop shying away from what you are. We wanted to be there for you after this, to help you grow and move forward. But now the team is no more, and you must do this anyway, without our support." Gladiola looked hard and somewhat threatening. Like she'd shove my nose right into that book and tell me to learn how to be a proper fairy or I'd get no supper.

"So that's the second thing Sookie. You gotta train that gift of yours. You just have to." Amelia sounded prodding, but hopeful.

"So what's the third." I was ready to die inside and I'm sure I looked like that too. I wasn't sure how I wasn't supposed to think of the people I'd let down when I had already let down my friends here. Getting this intervention over with so I could go cry in my bunk was all I could think about.

"Eric Northman."

"No fucking way, that conversation is off limits!"

"Not today! You told me all about Eric Northman and how he saved your sorry sparkly _ass_ and you disappeared from the man's life _and_ your grandfather's! Which I get, sometimes people need some time alone."

"He brought a bunch of Weres and vampires outside my home and-"

"To protect you!" I didn't want to, but I shut up when I heard Amelia contradict my narrative. She sighed and rubbed her fingers on her forehead before continuing.

"I have no idea how you think that vampire has anything to do with all this!" If ever something could pull me out of moping it was hearing about Eric Northman. Thinking about the crap he had dropped on my head always made me pissed.

"He does! You blame him for bringing those vampires around! And it's not _his_ fault. You know that, deep down you know. Mostly because you're still attracted to him and let his memory clam jam you at every turn. Don't even _try_ to tell me that isn't true. But if you were to open yourself up to the possibility that this vampire protected you when you needed it, you'd have to acknowledge his feelings on the matter _and_ yours. Instead you've been holed up with us in here for months and months hiding from the damn truth Sookie!"

"He's a total asshole and I don't like him! And I did the only rational thing I could do in that situation! Run. Run far, far away!" I yelled.

"So what if he's arrogant! He's a fuckin' vampire!" Amelia shot back. "You think you're not a stubborn shit head yourself? Running doesn't fix anything because you have to go back sometime!"

"No I don't. And just a reminder that I don't _eat_ people to survive, like he does."

"Yes you do have to go back Sookie, so cut the bullshit. And you're no better than he is! In fact you're peas in a fucking pod! You've killed enough that you can't say you're as pure as the driven snow. The only thing you have that's even remotely virginal is your hymen. Maybe, you actually like him but keep using excuses to avoid it! Don't think we haven't noticed that you close off your feelings and have an inability to let someone _in_ there! You rant and rave about him enough!"

"I don't have to fucking listen to this! Why did you have to do this before you left? Why can't I think about our time together as a good one instead of feeling like I fucked it all up?!"

"Sookie. Events happen as they happen, and there is no point in regret or hoping it had gone differently. Learn what your heritage offers you and be open to a change of heart. You did not ruin the time we had together. We all must move on as time commands." The demon calmly spoke, in contrast to Amelia's red-faced diatribe.

"Oh, so go hang with vampire Eric, right? You know, one of those things we're always sent to kill. _Them_."

"Yeah, I'd think that it sucks too Sookie, if I were you. And I don't like how they can be, possessive and all that. But you have to realize that you have to confront Eric Northman if you ever intend to go home. And he ain't half bad if he was trying to keep you safe and wanted to at least _try_ to be with you. You owe the man an apology and a thank you. Stop. Running."

We all stood in silence. I was crying now and Amelia looked like she wanted to run over and comfort me, but Gladiola's resolute posture kept the witch's feet nailed to the floor.

"Fine." I sighed. "I'll read the ridiculous magical book and work on my lame ass fairy powers. And I'll _think_ about reaching out to Eric Northman. But it has to be when I'm ready and trained up."

"Something to look forward to." The demon graced me with her creepy, toothy smile.

"I can't believe you are trying to hook me up with him." Amelia groaned at my words.

"No you stupid fairy, we want you to get honest, find a goal and stick to it! If it means that getting strong enough to face Eric Northman and your feelings about him is it, so be it! But grow up god damnit! Can I hug her now Gladiola? I can't fucking stand here any longer."

"Go." Amelia ran over to me and wrapped me up in her embrace.

"I love you so much Sookie. And when I can, maybe when you're out of the SSS, I'll come visit you wherever you make your home. Yeah?"

"Yeah. I love you too. Both of you. And I'll quit someday." I snuffled into her shoulder while looking over at the almost impassive face of Gladiola. You had to know her to tell that the demon was also feeling emotional. "I'll try, try to think about what you said. I wish you didn't have to leave. I don't know what I'm going to do alone here…"

"You have Richard," Amelia giggled into my shoulder. "Someone has to make him miserable if we're not all here to do it. So that's your job, besides learning and getting stronger. Make Richard feel wretched."

"Believe you me, I'll never let him forget what a bureaucratic sack of shit he is." I was sobbing now, my snot making a goopy mess on my best friend's shirt. When I pulled away, Amelia's face was a splotchy red and I imagined mine looked the same.

"Go now. I think you have to take Gladiola somewhere, yeah?" Gladiola stepped forward and Amelia held herself while heavy tears slipped down her cheeks. She turned to Gladiola. "I'll miss you too, badass toothy bitch."

"Both of you made Diantha very happy. We will always be… _friends_." That word seemed difficult for the demon to say. I guess demons don't usually have friends. The demon turned towards me, waiting for me to take her back to the house.

When we arrived Gladiola told me to leave quickly. Her relatives were often not as fond of fae as she was. Amelia stood waiting for me when I returned, looking a little bit less of a mess.

"We'll see each other again, Copley or no Copley. Though it's hard to think you're going back to him." I wanted Amelia's decision to go back to her father to be confusing to me. But it wasn't, because somewhere I wanted my old life back too, even if it wasn't the same or perfect.

"What if that's what's best though Stephanie? Fuck that, I am calling you Sookie too."

"It could be, I don't know. I would have said it was an awful idea, but you told me I can't run from my problems so I guess you can't either. I am taking you to the wedding with or without daddy's permission." I winked and felt how swollen my eyes must be from crying.

"Richard could forbid you to go, you know. I can deal with dad, but you still have a _job_ , even if it's working for Dr. Dick Lingon."

"What's he going to do? Spank me?" She laughed and then choked on tears. "Don't hesitate to use Gladiola's gift if someone comes after you. Ok?"

"Same to you. And remember what we said. Don't think you're off the hook fairy princess."

"Ok." We held tight as our worlds shifted around us once again.

***Eric***

I had been listening to disputes for over an hour. He glamored my human this, she fed off of my human that. The only real problem had occurred when a vampire outed another's resting place to a few members of the FoTS. Things hadn't gone as planned for the vampire who hoped his enemy would die. Instead, his flapping mouth and the rest of him were hanging out in my basement with Pam and a silver ball gag, amongst other things.

When I was finally alone, I reviewed area business and then turned my attentions to my pet project. Project Sookie Stackhouse Brigant. I had a vampire in every court looking for my blonde fairy. Fairies are a vampire magnet, so the fact that she hadn't shown up anywhere was mind numbing. Truthfully there was almost never work to be done on the project, but I liked to look over it each night. My phone rang and I checked the caller ID. Niall.

"Prince."

"Viking. I have information." The weight of the feelings I had been carrying imploded into a single focus.

"Where."

"We believe she was spotted in California in Robert's area. I am on my way to meet with my operative and examine her mind to see if the image of Sookie is correct. From what she told me… it sounds possible that it's her."

"Why do you think it could be her?"

"She was spotted with another woman walking to the back rooms of Robert's club along with his second. Very shortly after having gone back, the King and his second rushed outside with the other vampires following a minute after. The women were not with them. My operative could not go out of the bar with the rest of the vampires, lest suspicion fall on her, but she heard the sounds of fighting. When the vampires reentered the bar, they emptied the club of all others. Robert and his second were not present when the vampires came back, and there was much agitation. My contact said that there was evidence of battle with the top of a car having been dented deeply. There was the smell of demon halfling blood and dead vampire. No fairy scent, but that would be consistent with Sookie's cloaking. Consider that there was no army outside, so how did a part demon get away from an entire court of vampires? Whoever they are, they killed Robert and his second. The only way out would have to have been portaling, which demons are not capable of. Now, I have reliable contacts in California but they are not ensconced with vampires directly. I was hoping you could reach out and investigate on your species' end."

"Yes, I will. But this is all circumstantial evidence. Why did the operative think it was her?"

"All of my people know her face. The only reason she could not confirm is that she saw Sookie from the side. But that she said it was likely her at all is good enough for me."

"I will reach out to my contacts in California. Bring your operative here for interrogation."

"Very well." He actually agreed. Which could mean he felt close to attaining his great-great granddaughter. I would now have to consider how I would combat the fairy Prince for Sookie, It was entirely possible that Sookie would choose Niall. But I found that hard to believe after he had attacked her. In the short time I had known her, I knew Sookie was stubborn and it seemed to be a trait of both the human and fairy in her. Almost pig-headed. _Like someone else I know._ I heard Pam's words in my thoughts and smirked.


	15. Chapter 15

***Eric***

First Sookie, now my maker. Godric. He was fucking gone and his second Isabel had no idea where he had went. It's not like your fucking Sherriff, a 2,000 year old vampire, simply walks the hell away from his compound without detection. I could feel he was alive, but the bond was more tightly closed than it had ever been. Why did he not want me to find him?

It had been 6 more long months since I had spoken to Niall about Robert's death. He and his second had been confirmed as having been killed by four mysterious persons. The operative turned out to not be sure on whether the blond woman was Sookie. Niall tried to see from her memories the other woman's face, but strangely both faces were blurred out like a censored tape. It was a powerful spell to hide a person's identity in this way.

It wasn't the fae's fault, but I wanted to rip her to fucking shreds for her failure. I had called all my contacts in Robert's court and learned that they too could not identify the women who presumably killed the king. However, they did have security footage showing four women in black dresses entering the bar together, three brunette and one blond. The footage was in high resolution, but again their faces were blurred. When I saw the blond's body I knew beyond a doubt it was her. I'd recognize those breasts and thighs anywhere.

The footage misled my feelings. I had thought after watching them we'd have more of a lead on where she was. But the same spell must have obscured the memories of everyone present. It had to be the work of two or three witches, the spread of the spell was so wide. I doubt anyone who saw them remembered them. How would Sookie have such good protection and who were the other women near her?

When I asked about whether Robert's people kept something with the demon's scent they said they did, but when they rose next it could not be detected on the cloth they had used to mop up the blood. Yes, the spell was terrifyingly effective. No fluids, no face, no scent. The only mistake had been in revealing their bodies, but it was a minor error.

Niall did not seem as unhappy about having sighted, and then losing Sookie once more. He looked like he had all the patience in the world, which was like most fae. I did not have such patience. I had more spies now, mostly humans so I could control the information that came to them with glamour. And yet... She had not been found or seen again. I even tried to use the human government's resources surreptitiously. The government, specifically the SSS, turned out to be too difficult to penetrate. Each glamored human I sent in to Dallas was kept out of important affairs. It was frustrating, and I had to chalk it up to bad luck or improved human advancements in detecting glamour.

In contrast, the situation with Godric wasn't angering so much as unnerving. I had left Pam in charge of the bar to take the next flight to Dallas. Anubis had taken care of my delivery to Godric's base of operations. When I arose from my coffin, I found myself waiting on Isabel, Godric's second, to finish getting ready. Her human, Hugo, was waiting patiently for her too. We said nothing to one another. It wasn't long before Isabel sashayed into the room, attempting to establish dominance by her late appearance.

"Isabel. What are your leads on Godric."

"There are none. It's like Godric covered his own tracks. He's been distant lately…" She tried to look like she was musing about some past memory, but it looked hollow to me.

"His attitude is irrelevant. He is gone, that's all that matters."

"Hugo, leave." The human looked almost incredulous for a moment before trudging out with his head down. "Excuse him, he wishes to be a vampire and assumes he should be part of each meeting, but I can't bear to turn him." Isabel said after dismissing the man. She was cruel to take a human companion under the guise of eventually turning him. Even I would not do such a thing. She continued, "Godric came to me a few days before he was gone and said some things… that made it seem like he would be leaving soon."

"You're saying my maker was exhibiting symptoms of committing suicide."

"Well…"

"Don't be fucking coy Isabel, that's what you're saying. And I'll bet you let him go on like that, knowing if he ended himself you'd get his position. But let me make this crystal fucking clear for you; if we don't find him, you will meet the truth death."

"You would stand before the council? I thought you smarter than that." Isabel had begun to play the game instead of act the part she had picked for herself.

"Do not doubt what I would do for my maker. I would have you strung up for days, kill your human in front of you, find your children and destroy them before I end your pathetic life."

She hissed at me and poised herself to attack.

"Do it, Isabel. Make the first move. Or help me find him and maybe you'll live."

"I'll do one better and tell you where he is." Her grin was maniacal and her laugh loud and uncouth. "There's a Fellowship of the Sun compound just north of Amarillo. You have approximately 45 minutes to get from here to Amarillo, whatever time it takes to locate the building, get Godric out and go to ground. And if you don't, he meets the sun tomorrow morning. Remember Eric, you have no vampires in this state willing to help you. Even Stan did not want to keep Godric. Are you ready to play the game Viking? I can't wait to see you lose."

"Of course, you'll say I shouldn't waste my time torturing you because you won't give in until sunrise. Yes?"

Isabel smiled madly and turned away from me to open the doors out to where Hugo was sitting.

"Hugo darling, we're all finished. Would you please go find Annabelle?" Isabel kept her countenance as I watched Hugo leave.

"Oh don't worry, I won't kill your precious human at this moment. I'll wait, ever so patiently."

"Keep waiting, Viking." The vampire scoffed and closed the door behind me. I wound my way out of the compound and took to the night air.

***Sookie***

"Don't engage, do you understand me?"

"Heard you loud and clear Richy-poo." I loathed him these days and regretted every single time I had helped his dumb ass when I still had my team. Sometimes I think I stuck with him because I loved to hate him.

"Follow your orders." He always outwardly ignored my pet names but Richard despised his authority being questioned in any capacity. So of course I questioned it. Often.

"Whatever you say sugar-tits." That got one of the soldiers next to me laughing.

"You map out the terrain, go in, incapacitate the cameras and hang back. There will be disciplinary action if you fail to follow protocol." Who's not gonna follow protocol? I'm not gonna follow protocol.

"Richard, my lack of enjoyment in this conversation is profound." I turned my mic off, not willing to listen to any more of his micromanaging. I leaned over to the guy next to me. "See, my boss has this fantasy, where he likes to dress up as himself but act like a dick." More chuckles and snickering.

All of the soldiers knew that I had something on Richard that allowed me to mouth off to him. There was money on what it could be. Did I know the size of his penis and was it small? Maybe I knew what his fetish was? What if I knew that he screwed a higher up to keep his job? The possibilities were endless.

We were packed as tight as sardines in a can and I felt the van rock back and forth on the uneven terrain. Destination: crazy religious people.

The Fellowship of the Sun had abducted a very old vampire. We were involved because the SSS had decided to earn some cred with the vampires by going on super secret missions to help vampires where we could. This was not publicized because failures couldn't be reported. These missions, along with our continuing to manage the blood banks and testifying before Congress on vampire rights had vampires begrudgingly accepting of human governance. As for the human's cooperation, when the SSS, who dealt with the bloodsuckers, came out and said 'you have to accept vampires and their existence as reality, and if you don't they'll just kill you and take your stuff rather than learning to respect you', you listened.

SSS provided the research for human protections which it distributed freely to both vampires and human corporations. This sounded like it wasn't a good idea, but the effects were that when humans didn't hide what they did to protect themselves then vampires didn't have to react with violence in order to halt progress. It's not like they could stop research that was freely distributed to everyone. They could only roll with the punches. Notably, anti-glamour contacts were popular and sold at every convenience store, which was one result of the research. They were standard issue for all SSS members. Vampires didn't like it but at least they couldn't be obsessed with destroying something that was already ubiquitous.

The rumbling of the van was a slight discomfort. We got closer and I started noting human minds about 5 miles away.

"Lights!" I said. The driver flipped his headlights off and pulled down his night vision goggles, as did the rest of us. We got three miles closer and stopped. Our information was that any further and there would be motion detectors as well as trip wires. We piled out of the van and took in the chill of a winter's night in northern Texas.

"Give us an ETA on the connection with their security system Luna." Our squad leader said.

"Approximately four minutes until it loads. Maria-Star can handle the rest."

"Luna, out in bird form, find a guard." Luna said nothing before transforming into a barn owl and hooting away. The shifter wasn't run of the mill. She was yee naaldlooshii, what the navajos referred to as a skin-walker. Luna could take the shape of humans, which we used to insert short term operatives into the ranks of the enemy. She was looking for a soldier who had access to the compound to kill and take the place of. The shifter would open one of our entry points.

We had a map of the compound and on it I started drawing an 'x' wherever a guard or scout was. As a scout moved, I traced their trail in a line. It was likely that the scouting circuit would take about a half hour for each guard, but we'd wait in the dark for as long as it took to have their routes mapped out.

"Loaded." Maria-Star confirmed. To circumvent the cameras we had tapped into the FoTS security system using a piece of code that the SSS had inserted into the compound's firmware via a spy we had from the inside. It was insidious, much like the Stuxnet, designed to make things go wrong in a quiet way. We were ready to activate as soon as we had the scout patterns. The cameras and motion detectors would falter for approximately three minutes, every five or so minutes.

The plan was to move while the motion detectors and cameras were down and stop at intervals. This way, the FoTS would not think it was an attack, but a simple power failure or wiring issue. They would dedicate their energies to fixing it instead of looking for outside interference. All of our squad had timers that were set to coincide with when we needed to move and stop. As we reached the end of our push forward to the scout line, the last burst of deactivation would be about 7 minutes in length. Enough time to kill the scouts, have most of the team move forward, and to leave a few of our team to pretend to be the FoTS scouts. They would follow the routes we were currently tracking and that would allow us to have a complete surprise attack as we passed the line of motion detectors.

Once in, I was responsible for frying the cameras internally as Richard said. Slowly I had let Richard know I could do a tiny amount of fae magic. A little bit of light here, a small amount of extra human strength there. No portaling or other abilities. This allowed me to act more independently in missions and to be trusted with the heavy lifting. If I could help it, Richard would never see what I truly looked like and what I was capable of.

"Ok, timer is a go in five, four, three, two, one." Our captain was a Were and former navy SEAL. We had it drilled into us to _move_ when he gave the word. As we all ran, our mics beeped steadily letting us know we were safe to keep moving. When they beeped faster, we stopped preemptively before a loud and long beep. When the beeps started again, we moved forward. It took us about two hours and a lot of patience to get close enough to the scouts. On the next move, our squad leader hit a button to signal that we needed the 7 minutes.

All of our guns had silencers and we were able to easily end each scout. They had gotten sloppy because of the motion detectors, wandering around listening to music and bible thumping garbage. Their mics had been disabled too, and any cries were silenced by accurate shots to the head.

"We're a go Luna. Did you find someone?" The captain spoke into his mic to the shifter.

"Yes. You're ready to start on your circuits. The tech team does in fact think it's a power issue. I've communicated with Maria-Star to disable only the motion detectors. They'll start calling you on your mics, but your mic will be muted. They'll think there's something further wrong with their system. Be prepared if they turn off the mics. You should be able to be in place for the raid in 10 minutes, I'll await your command."

"Very good. Ladies and gentleman, walk your routes." We all moved, the new scouts following the paths tracked. I went with the rest of the squad towards the treeline of the building. When it came into view, all the lights were out. Trees grew out of the building, having not been chopped down when the compound was built. It provided cover from the air should a helicopter or flying vampire attempt to find it. Clever.

"Stephanie, you will go in now. Take Adam and Jeff's squad with you. Luna, open the gate." Without hesitation we ran towards the location that Luna had pinged us on our GPS. The shifter was a man in an FoTS uniform with a happy-looking emblem of the sun. Such a cute logo for such a terrible group of people. The door's lock clicked and we opened it, finding ourselves in an empty hallway.

"Five in the room ahead of us. According to the map we memorized there's a clear path to the vampire. Distraction?" I said quietly.

"We're ordered not to leave you."

"What if we got separated and I took the heat for running off?" I had it in mind that I was going to find the vampire. Maybe that was a little suicidal, but I'd become a bit of a danger seeker after losing my team.

"I don't like it." Jeff shifted his weapon in his hands, a definite 'no'.

"You can't do anything about it." I turned and ran down the hallway skidding around the corner as the units gave chase. Before they turned the corner I portaled ahead to the end of the hall, and seeing the hallway beyond that, I apparated there. When I reached a metal door that had a peep hole, I looked through so I could see the other side and moved into that room too. Adam and Jeff's team bit the dust, but not in the dead kind of way. They couldn't see me portal and they'd be left wondering how I got away.

I weaved in and out of the chattering minds by portaling back and forth between empty spaces I knew and moving back to ones that were now empty from people having passed through. The more I saw, the more I could get to quickly. _Boing, boing, boing._ Back and forth, back and forth. It was enough to make me nauseous if I didn't take dramamine, which I had learned the hard way to do. Must be my human side that didn't protect me from portaling effects.

Why was I so disobedient? Richard. It had everything to do with him. He had tried to forbid me from going to Gladiola's wedding. I went with Amelia anyway. Octavia had exhibited signs of suicide that I had known nothing about, no, I was _prevented_ from knowing about and eventually she hung herself in the spell room. It was the only ceiling high enough to get a good noose in place. Richard had not wanted to 'distract' me from my training and missions and hadn't told me she was suffering. If I didn't know that Richard thought he was doing his best and that sacrifices were necessary to survive, I would have bitterly hated him, and maybe killed him, instead of only despising his presence. I did everything possible to thwart his command without putting him in the spotlight with his superiors. If I could get away with it, I did it. There was no one fae enough or demon enough, much less a telepath that he could replace me with and fuck if I didn't let him know it every time he sent me out.

There. There he was. Whoa he was old, and powerful. Also guarded by a human who had some really nasty thoughts about the vampire in front of him. I rifled through them. He also had killed several Weres that had been captured by the compound for 'practice'. Not before raping the women, who had been injected with a substance that didn't allow for them to shift. They 'deserved it', apparently. He would die.

The vampire's room was past a secret door from the interior of the church. The church of all places! I went down the stairs and I prepped my gun. I could tell from the guard's thoughts that he was looking at the vampire in disgust and not at the door. I fried the lock, opened the door and shoved my gun to the back of the man's neck and up before pulling the trigger. He collapsed and I got a good look at the vampire.

He was made when he was seventeen and he had these beautiful light blue, almost green eyes with pale skin and mussed up light brown hair. His ethnicity wasn't easily discernable. And he was sad, so very sad. It made my heart clench to see his red rimmed eyes and patches of blood on his cheeks. The look he gave me told me what I needed to know. I'd seen it on Octavia, and hadn't known what it meant at the time. This vampire wanted to die. The FoTS couldn't have captured him, so he must have given himself over.

"Don't choose this. You have those who love you."

"It doesn't matter." He looked catatonic as he stared at the wall, but for his words.

"Yes it does. It kills them on the inside and you owe them better than that. Don't be a coward. Find a way to redemption."

"I can be certain you know very little of redemption and bravery. Seeking death for sins committed encompasses those words."

"Maybe you're right about having the courage to die. What I do know is that someone I loved sought redemption in her death in order to make up for what bad things happened to those she loved by association with her. But it seems neither of you know the very definition of redemption. It is recompense; an act of compensation for loss. Death does not compensate! Neither of you leaving the world by suicide makes amends to anyone by any stretch of the means. Not to your victims, or your family. It's the easy way out."

I was betting that a vampire this ancient had some spawn running around.

He made me think of Amelia and how she blamed herself for entering the club and killing Diantha. For not protecting her ex lovers. Octavia for killing her lover accidentally and failing to protect her children. Gladiola for feeling that she had to give up her life as she knew it in order to pay for her sister's demise. I too held Diantha's death over my head, Grans and Octavia's. I was so angry at Octavia for leaving purposefully, but even angrier at myself that I hadn't seen it coming. _Never again. Not now._

"I deserve to die, and if you asked the souls of the people I have killed, they would say I deserve it. I've killed entire bloodlines of families, none of their children to ever walk the earth again. I had no justification. I killed my own kind, for the same… reasons. None. My progeny do not need me anymore. I do not need me anymore."

"You're just afraid of living. If you decided to help as many people as you've killed, you may not be able to bring them back to life but you would be doing more important work than dying. And I do not agree with you that your progeny would let you go. I think you've cheated those who would save you by shutting down your maker and child bond." The vampire shot me a look at the mention of his blood tie. "Yeah, I said it. Otherwise they'd be here. Look, we've all hurt people and made mistakes."

"I am not here because of fear. Did you kill the innocent?"

"When I had to. I know you are afraid, because I saw the fear in my friend's eyes before she too killed herself. We both know fear, you just need to look in a mirror to see that you have it." I thought of the pets of vampires glamored to protect their master that we had cut down. The recently turned vampires. And the contracted Weres. We slew packs, nests, entire groups of donors. It's not that we were indiscriminate, only that we couldn't play by the rules. I lost count of the victims.

"I didn't have to kill them." I continued. He turned away from me, not responding to my accusations. I sat down on the floor, watching him through silver bars that kept him imprisoned.

"Sometimes I enjoyed it." I intoned. "Sometimes I didn't. And I have accepted that there are casualties in battle as well as casualties attributed to the rage inside of us." I cut people down when I didn't have to and we all did in the frenzy. Cutting lives short was easier when they happened to be in front of my claws, a gun or a sword. I had closed my mind when I fought, so I did not have to hear their last thoughts.

"You've lived longer, so you've done more damage. Yet if you compare a year of your life to a year of mine, what I've done probably outweighs it. And if I kept doing this for the indefinite future my kill rate would stay the same each year. Give me as much time as you have lived and I would kill many more. Now I don't intend to do this job forever and let innocent people die because they got in my way. When I stop, I won't hold against myself what I did, even if I should have been more careful, and exhibited less wanton destruction. Shit happens, and sometimes you end up killing people you shouldn't when you're killing people you should. I have a feeling you stopped killing needlessly a long time ago. So if you're really looking to make it up to your victims, come work for us."

"Little halfling fae." He said gently, but condescendingly, shaking his head.

"I'm not going to ask how you know that, but the name's Sookie, jackass. Better known as Stephanie." I smiled at him. He opened his mouth and looked at me in surprise for my impertinence.

"Better shut that mouth before you catch flies."

"Godric." He said. That settled it for me. Godric wasn't going to die on my watch.

"You're coming with me Godric. And you're going to help us."

"Who?"

"Why, the SSS." I grinned and pulled the keys off the dead guard to open up his cage.

"I could tear off your limbs, slowly. I could drain you in a single gulp." He looked kind of pathetic sitting there, instead of looking like he meant it.

"Could." I winked at him. "You coming?" He wiped his tears on his sleeve like a young boy getting over a broken toy. Looking at me again, he had the tiniest glimmer of hope in his ancient eyes.

"For now, I think. If I want to go to the sun, I will do it later."

"Blah blah. You're not going into any sun while I'm around. I feel responsible for my friend's suicide because I didn't pay attention, so you're not going anywhere near a stake, UV lights or silver bullets as long as you're _my_ friend. Got it?"

"You have decided to be friends with a mass murderer of humans?"

"I once met a vampire who was a killer too, but she never saw anything wrong with her behavior. I ended her. But you're not like that. I told you, changing your mind is enough. You just need someone to hold onto that view for you and shove it down your throat every time you forget. Until you can see it yourself. And I'm that person." This old and depressed vampire was mine now and I was going to _make_ him happy again. I was probably fighting for him as a surrogate for my grief for Octavia. And Diantha. Gran too. But that didn't mean I couldn't get to know him as a person. He seemed like someone worth knowing. Being in his presence made me feel better and it made me feel my loneliness strongly. He was blissfully quiet, the way Eric and Bill had been. Tears were welling in my eyes now.

"I am not sure it's a matter of changing my mind."

"Look, I'm going to be square with you. I don't know what self forgiveness entails for you. What I do know is that most of my friends are dead or scattered away because of danger to their lives! You're super old, and I need a friend who doesn't die easily. I'm losing my mind doing this alone, without anyone who understands what I've done. I have no one to talk to, no one who knows me as I am! So you're going to be my friend you stubborn vampire, because you don't deserve to die! And there's, there's just something really nice and comforting about you, like you care. And maybe I'm selfish but I want someone to care for me right now." I poured my heart out to him and the tears fell. I'd been holding this all in with the people who were around me day to day, trying to keep from cracking in front of them with humor and aloofness. It was probably that he was in the right place and time that I was being a leaky human right now.

"When you find out what I've done, you won't want me."

"Try me, vampire. I may surprise you. But you can't do that if you're dead."

"Ok. I will come and help you." I reached in and pulled him up and out of the cage. He stood beside me with a careful and shy smile. Godric didn't react to my touching him as a normal vampire would.

"Hold my hand." I took it a step further, and he didn't mind that either.

"The Fellowship of the Sun?" The vampire tilted his head, looking concerned.

"All detained or dead now. They've been doing illegal things of course. When we go out, I want my team to know they are safe from you. If they hold their guns up, get behind me." He laughed.

"You are going to protect me little fae?"

"Stephanie. And yes I am." I beamed at him with my crazy Sookie smile. I flipped on my mic. "Richard?"

"Don't turn off the mic during a critical mission! You know better! Now where are you?"

"With the vampire. He's agreed to come with us, but he's sticking with me."

"He'll be taken separately in a vampire proof van provided." Richard said with authority.

"Then I'll be in that van, with him."

"Absolutely not."

"He's not coming without me. Get it?"

"You can't be serious."

"Yeah, we're best buds now. Inseparable. In fact, he might just lose his shit if we're not in the same room together." I drawled. Godric was suppressing a smile.

"Fine. But he will be in separate quarters at the SSS. You can come visit for an hour each week."

"Not going to work honeybuns. You intake him with me, you bunk him next to me and maybe he can't go on missions, but I'm present for all interviews in the future. I won't let you poke and prod him or hurt him. Do I make myself clear?"

"You are not in charge. You answer to _me._ And you do not dictate your own rules." He sounded rightfully furious.

"Oh yeah? I guarantee you, you're only useful to the SSS because you have me and I only work with you, per our personal agreement. Want to try and see if that's not true?"

"You wouldn't dare."

"Dare, I would. Double doggy dare." Godric was laughing now at my mouthing off my boss, and I think Richard could hear him through the mic.

"Fine. You both will be in the van, but he will be banded with silver. And your terms for interviews and intake can be arranged. As for bunking, he will have a specially protected cell of silver with bars you can speak through."

"You don't have to contain-"

"You will compromise!" He shouted.

"Yeah, fine. Let the troops know what's up." I flipped the mic off again.

"That was your supervisor, yes? You are, what do they say, a sassy woman?"

"Yeah. I try. It's tough being so sassy." I brought my hand up to my head in mock exhaustion. "Let's go. I'm excited to be bunk mates. I haven't had someone to binge watch television shows with in forever. Do you like tv?"

"I have not paid attention to television much."

"Well, we gotta get you up to snuff on current events. A lot has changed only in the past 200 years, so I imagine you had trouble keeping up with all that."

"True. But I had an iPhone at least." He protested.

"Ok, let's just say TV will be a social experiment." We were still holding hands and I could feel how cold he was. I noticed he looked starved. "Godric." I let go and turned to him. "You need to feed."

"In my human life, before I died, I was starving. I remember feeling hungry and then there was nothing. The hunger dissipated as I could feel my energy waning. It is like that now. I need nothing and being weak won't kill me now."

"We're about to be around a bunch of other people. So you need to feed now. Um." I pulled my hair aside and offered my neck. "You are more than allowed. I trust you." Sookie-alarms were going off in my head. They told me I had missed the last exit to sanity and I was driving towards crazy town. But making him feel better would make me feel better… I wanted to take care of him.

I could see him fighting the pull. "Do it before you lose anymore control Godric." He languidly moved towards me, gently pulling me to him and prepping my neck with his tongue before sinking his fangs in. Somehow, he made it feel good without bringing about an orgasm. Old vampires must have a _lot_ of self control. When he pulled away, he lapped up the blood and sealed me. He made me miss being bitten by Eric. I had closed my eyes and thought of him while Godric pulled blood from my neck. I felt like such a weirdo fantasizing about a man who I hadn't seen in a year and had run away from. He probably didn't even care that I was gone.

"You are potent." He said. "Never let anyone who is not at least a thousand years old feed on you. They would drain you dry, you are so sweet."

"Part fae will do that to ya. This was a one time deal though. You'll be restricted to donor blood bags, if that's ok. "

"Yes. I prefer it out of principle. Shall we?"

"We shall." I gently led him to the stairs.

***Eric***

When I found the compound finally, an hour before dawn, I watched what was obviously SSS troops cleaning up a mess. Several FoTS members were cuffed and being put into vans. I reached for Godric and he wasn't here. Fuck. I knew he had been close, so I reached out to the closed bond and hammered it as hard as I could. Amazingly, it opened a crack and Godric sent a small thread of calm to me. He followed it up with love and then a 'goodbye for now', before closing the bond once more.

It was a hollow victory. Godric was alive, but he was moving away from me to the south west. The SSS was anti-vampire for the most part, so they wouldn't take him. Not that I knew of anyway. The troops below were 100% likely to be wearing anti-glamor contacts and I doubted I could convince any of the SSS to tell me what happened. I also had to assume they kept the best R&D for themselves, which made it best to stay away.

First Sookie, now Godric. My fury knew no bounds. Isabel would be first. I'd decimate her with the loss of Hugo. Given that Godric had not died, I had no case against her publically. I would go back and tell them that I had seen Godric and spoken with him to help them think that I was content. If they were to come after Godric again to make certain he would walk into the sun, I had to assume he would win that battle. Presumably Godric did not want to die and he only wanted to remain hidden. If he did before, at least I didn't get the impression he wanted to now. I did not have to know why, though it cut deep to not be in his confidence.

While I knew he wasn't doing it because he did not love me, he did not see fit to come to me. I ran my mind over the possibilities and could see no reason he would have excluded me but for the fact that I would have stopped him from doing something that I could not agree to. At least I could get a grasp on why Sookie had run, but it was beyond me to think about my maker wishing to end himself. The past year had been the most memorable and one of the worst I had experienced. If I could only find her. Niall had been no help, and I didn't think he was equally worried. Nonetheless he had been helpful in the search for her. We had even divided states where we could focus our energy in searching. I had the whole east coast while he took the west. That's not to say we didn't have contacts in both, but we were actively looking in our areas. We both had contacts in other countries keeping an eye out for her as well, though neither of us thought it was in her nature to leave. So we stuck to the Americas.

I flew back to Godric's, now Isabel's compound, with fifteen minutes to spare until dawn. Isabel had already gone down for the day. Hugo greeted me at the doors and asked me if I would be needing a coffin.

"I have a coffin near by where I will stay. Tell Isabel that I spoke with Godric and am satisfied."

"Very well then." The man turned and walked back into the house, leaving me to close the door. I waited.

"Hugo."

"Yes?" The man faced me.

"She will never turn you." He stood stiffly, his face angry and searching, a flicker of doubt.

"She promised-"

"You are 37 years of age Hugo. If she cared to, she would have done it before you reached 25. You know this, but it's understandable that you refuse to see." The man shrunk with defeat. It wasn't like I had voiced a thought he'd never had. These were fears he carried before I had ever associated with him.

"She'll never let me leave. She can find me anywhere."

"Go to the SSS. I heard they break bonds and provide protection. You should leave today if you wish to escape unscathed. You should know, for Isabel's betrayal to my maker I would kill you anyway. This way you live. Your leaving Isabel is as good as your death to me. Now, to further incentivize you, I will set up a bank account in your name. When you go to the SSS and break the bond, I'll give you the account numbers and you'll be able to live in peace for the rest of your days." Hugo nodded slowly.

"And why should I trust that you'll do that?"

"You can't. But you know my reputation and I mean what I say. Now, would you agree to accept a glamor that locks this information away until you are safely ensconced with the SSS?" The human only considered for a moment. He'd been around vampires for years and knew the penalty for trying to escape. Glamor was a protection for him as much as it was for me.

"Yes." I went to work on him, but left behind his desire to leave because Isabel would not change him into a vampire. I may have pushed the glamor a bit hard about him wanting to leave, but I couldn't afford for him to be discovered. I smirked as I flew quickly to my private sleeping place.


	16. Chapter 16

Thanks Suzymeinen for beta'ing. I appreciate all the reviews and encouragement!

"Egil?"

"Yes."

"You heard Richard, right?"

"Of course."

"Do you want to go?"

"If you are going."

"You have to have an opinion."

"I do. Where you go, I go."

"Fine. Stubborn vampire."

"Pig-headed fae."

"I didn't do anything to earn that title. Today."

"I heard you with Richard."

"He doesn't count because he's a fucking bag of dicks."

Godric, known as Egil to the SSS, was not sharing any of his thoughts about going with Richard to this new underground bunker. Probably to give me the freedom of choice. I sighed. Talking with Richard these days was always a strain. He and I lived in this strange and unwanted mutualistic relationship. When Richard's supervisor had died, he had taken the secret of my telepathy with him as was his intention. Neither Richard nor his boss were stupid; if too many people knew who I was, word would get out and we'd all be in trouble at the SSS. This was similar to Godric's change of name. Too many people knew who Godric was for him to go by that name anymore, and if he did it would jeopardize the SSS.

Richard knew about my team's vows because he had established the original team with Octavia and the demons. He'd instructed them to find a foolproof way of keeping themselves secret. If Richard had one skill, it was finding things that advanced his career and holding on tight to them. His research on faes wasn't that bad, but it was shackled by the fact that he wasn't fae and was thus unable to read or translate most of the old texts he had. Fuck if I would ever tell him that I could.

So Richard was the only one who knew of my telepathy now, besides the girls and Godric, and Godric would never betray me. My skills were already valuable enough that I didn't need to justify my being in the SSS military branch. It was known that I could find people because of my "fairy-ness", with no mention of my telepathy. Okay, the other part fae we had couldn't do what I did, but fairy abilities were varied right? As for Richard, he shamelessly used this to his advantage as my handler. In turn I was protected by having only Richard know of my secret. After the team had dissolved, I realized how lucky I had been that they were so amazingly understanding and had freely offered to die in order to keep my secrets. Sometimes when I wrote to Amelia, I mentioned this and she always replied that I needed to 'grow up' and realize that I had offered the same courtesy.

Every day we heard about more deep infiltrations in other SSS facilities. I wasn't sent anywhere to read minds and protect other areas, even though the situation was dire. Richard's career ambitions of keeping me here and under his authority happened to coincide with other goals I had, such as staying alive. Vampires were good at seeing patterns. After several thousand years of knowledge passed on, if one person started flying all over god's green earth to 'help', they'd notice. Even in our facility we let a few glamoured employees in. They were never allowed a promotion or access to any critical information. They were there to help the vampires think they had an in, and every once in awhile we'd throw them a bone by showing up somewhere that their operative said we would.

"It would be safer for you." Godric offered.

"Yeah, but without me out here people will die who wouldn't have otherwise." I thought about each of my missions, big and small. The difference I made currently to the world as a whole was insignificant, I knew. Yet the people I pulled from the wreckage of vampire and even Were designs, the people I saved, were significant to me and to themselves.

"Is your goal to save the most people or…?" I groaned loudly in defeat. He was saying that I valued seeing people saved more than saving the most I could.

Godric let that sink in before he continued with some moral support, "I had much more success as a Sheriff in protecting humans than when I had only my and my child's fangs."

"I see your point about helping more people overall, but I would be _doing_ less." Now I sounded downright whiney.

"Yes, you would be doing less and managing more. You may become bored. But you could use this time to train your fae gifts and when you are at full capacity you could reassess staying." I sighed and looked away. I had not opened the book Gladiola gave me since I had received it. It'd been almost a year and I thought of Diantha when I imagined reading it. Even after their confrontation with me, I was wimpy about my powers. Then there was Richard, always watching Godric and I like a hawk.

The silence held for another ten, twenty seconds. I was long past any defense for my behavior.

"None of your reasons are good enough Stephanie." He softly pushed through the uncomfortable absence of sound.

"I know that." I snapped.

"Then do what is necessary. What if you needed to defend me and were not able?"

"Don't guilt trip me vampire. I can still fry you, trained or not."

"I might look good with a tan." I gave him 'the look' that you gave men when they needed to shut their mouths. I had often enjoyed giving it to Jason and it was something I had learned from Gran.

"I know you're right… I'm-"

"Scared?"

"Yeah."

"You were not scared of me."

"But you're not scary." I rolled over on my bed to look at him with mischief in my eyes. "You're a softy with fangs, a human in a vampire body. "

"I'll take that as a compliment." Godric was contentedly lying in his bunk next to mine. Between us was something like a window. It had large silver bars with a net of silver hanging on my side over it, 'protecting' me from Godric. Richard had not, even after close to 6 months, allowed me to be with Godric away from a silver barrier. Which was frustrating, because Godric had been a great source of information on the power structure of vampires, their ages, the nature of vampires, and a lot of other randomly helpful things. For instance, vampires had gifts of their line that weren't always available to other vampires. Godric had told me that he could fly and was good at closing down his bond with his progeny.

At first, Richard had tried to bug my and Godric's room. Godric's hearing was phenomenal and he knew where they all were. Together, we found them and crushed them to pieces. Hilariously, Richard wouldn't admit to the bugs and we wouldn't admit to destroying them. He'd put more in when Godric was taken to be studied, which I always attended for his safety. When we got back, we would grin ruefully before making them disappear. Finally Richard had stopped trying. He didn't risk blackmailing either of us by separation or any other means. The one time he suggested starving and draining Godric for an experiment, which was really about making Godric delirious enough to tell more secrets, I told him under no uncertain terms that I would light him up like a christmas tree if he so much as looked at Godric the wrong way.

Now Richard wanted us to go to a government base called "Dark City". This place was a result of the human government of the United States abruptly realizing that there were separate supernatural governments that had always superseded human government and that this was the furthest thing from "cool". The president quietly asked Homeland Security, the FBI, the CIA and the SSS, which was a small and underfunded department at the time, to make a secure underground compound designed to prevent non-human interference in human governance. Construction started right away just outside of Dallas no less.

Supes, being fairly arrogant all around, thought this was a great time to display their sense of humor and make it clear what they thought of humans building a structure to protect themselves. The "vampire pranks" started early, with construction workers glamoured to crucify each other, newly completed rooms filled with gallons of blood that spilled out upon opening the door and most terrifying, a note to the president spelled out in the limbs of the entire admin staff that said "Good Game, Re-match?" The dot at the end of the question mark was a head.

The government took this seriously and placed full time guards armed with tiny-ringed silver chainmail, glamour-resistant contacts, wooden core and silver-uv bullets, silver powder "mace" and colloidal silver spray on every patch of skin and clothing. Custom structures designed for temporary containment or protection were developed and tested. Such a structure was critical for the creation of Dark City. It looked like a gigantic square or rectangular cage that sat above the ground, reminding some of the screens you see around bug zappers. Humans were the attractant and the screen, made of silver, copper and iron chain links, zapped vamps and other supes like tiny mosquitos. Colloquially it was known as a "Zapper." By this point the SSS had made it clear what humans needed protection from: Vampires, Fae, Demons and sometimes Weres, in that order. Silver for vampires, Iron for Fae, copper for demons. Weres could be combated with the usual assortment of guns. The first Zappers were slapdash, with later models having a setup time of one hour with a rolled up blanket of extra chain inside to cover the ground, offering protection from all angles.

The Zapper was a game changer. Combined with day guards, Dark City was set to be completed in a headlong rush of 2 years. Through some act of stupidity the vampires thought humans only wanted to be 'safe', but somewhere along the way the purpose of Dark City changed. It was now to be a fully stocked military base that would house a unified governing body put forth by the standing governments of the human world to deal with Supe activities. The decision to open Dark City to other governments came about after many financial setbacks, sabotage and destruction by Supes. The United States had started their project earlier than anyone else's, though other bases were under construction throughout the world. It was agreed to put resources into one base in one country, then expand from there. Risky, but given that vampires thought humans had already been divided and conquered, they wouldn't imagine that humans had come together to do something cooperatively given that there was no central government like vampires had in the Authority.

The other method, besides Zapper protection, that allowed for this to happen without supe encumbrance was that communication technology had outpaced most vampire's abilities. There were some vampire engineers, but not many. One by one, the best and brightest of the world not picked off by vampires were shipped off to Zapper protected construction sites. New software languages were developed to code security and communications systems. No backdoors were allowed, even from the NSA. All code was checked by five different people to ensure that the no backdoor policy was enforced. Engineering created a fully functional ecosystem that was self-sufficient to test what it would be like if Dark City had to lock itself down completely. I remembered my conversation with Richard.

" _If we go, Dark City can be secured indefinitely. We can keep you, Egil, all of our best researchers, political persons and other personnel safe."_

" _I'm more of a help out here."_

" _You're a liability out here. Do you know how difficult it is to keep it from others that you have a unique ability?"_

" _I am positive you benefit enough from my existence to not complain about the amount of paperwork you have to do."_

" _If I leave, you have to find someone else to protect you."_

" _Protect me?" I laughed outright. "As if I need protection."_

" _I'll admit, this is a good career move for me and you are a part of that. And that means you know I value my own skin enough that I would never betray you. I can't say the same for anyone else in this organization." Richard was right about that._

Godric and I had laid in our beds in silence for some time.

"You know, just because I'm paranoid about Richard doesn't mean I am wrong."

"Richard is a known quantity. Selfish and reliably so." I grimaced and sat up.

"I guess we're going Godric."

"You will be able to train your powers there."

"What if I don't want to?"

"However will I meet this vampire you keep going on and on about if you can't protect me?"

"Hey! I don't even like him."

"Why don't you tell me his name and I will tell you if he is likeable?"

"Fat chance."

"What kind of chance?"

"Not a chance." I'd been working hard to get Godric fluent in human slang. It was a fun but arduous task.

"You are in love with him, and have been so since you left home." Godric said simply. The vampire's interest in me was not sexual but I couldn't pinpoint exactly why it had gone that direction. He probably knew that when I thought of dating others… I couldn't dream of being with them. None of them measured up to tall, blonde and deadly with a great ass. My crush on Eric Northman had been nursed privately for a year and a half. I guess Godric knew, but he was too old to hide from. I think he didn't call me out because bringing to light my feelings wouldn't help right now. I couldn't leave the SSS just yet. It wasn't a financial decision; I had made a lot of government money at this point. There were still people and vampires who needed saving.

Godric and I had discussed my leaving a few times. Our plan was for us to portal to my home and see my family. Then we would go visit his child. Lastly, Godric had insinuated that I'd have to confront my vampire. With Godric I felt safe physically, but Eric had taken to roost in my heart and he refused to leave. When I met the real thing, would I even have a backbone before I succumbed to his leering and possessive behavior? It made me ashamed to think that the things I had ranted at him for doing piqued my interest now. I wouldn't kill for an eye-fuck from Eric, but I might incapacitate someone. He loved it when I killed Lorena, I could tell. Was it terrible that my only encouragement besides Godric to learn my abilities was to whip the shit out of Eric and then proceed to _own_ him? Must be the fae talking.

Otherwise, Godric and I had many varied conversations over the past several months.

"Immortality isn't an obvious choice for everyone. Some people already know they're going to live a life that goes maybe up to a hundred years and only a little over. Others don't know how they're going to get it all done before they go. Like my child."

"Do you miss him?"

"Yes. Very much so."

"Then why haven't you reached out?"

"He feels… too strongly for me. And I am… ashamed that I almost abandoned him. Also, he would come here immediately and tear down this entire facility just to get to me." Godric had a mirthful but sad smile on his face. Likely at the thought of his progeny making a mince meat out of the SSS for a maker who had left him.

We talked about the nature of vampires. He maintained that his kind was all blood and sex. Yes there was feeling, but it was twisted by impatience and indulgence.

"What about your progeny."

"He is the exception to the characteristics of most vampires, I think. He is… a vampire to be feared, but at the end of the day he is fair and feels a panoply of emotions that rivals mine by far. His patience is outstanding and he is a bloodhound when it comes to his wants, which are rare now, given his standards. Which is very unlike our kind. Most are easily distracted by newer, shinier things and have bottomless pits of desire. The exceptions would be a few of the monarchs, which is often why they have the thrones they do. If he wanted a throne, however, he would have it, such is his reputation."

"Maybe I could meet him sometime? He has to be good, given that you're his dad." Godric laughed and turned over to look at me.

"Maybe. Why don't you tell me why you are so insistent that we are not creatures of a darker nature."

"Well, people don't choose to be evil, but sometimes a series of decisions leads them there. I think it's the same with vampires, except they have all the time in the world to make more bad decisions. You'd think age would protect vampires from the cumulative amount of their actions, but I don't think it does. Which is why you were so unhappy, in my mind. If you divided up your lifetime into human sized chunks and added the kind of stress a person has to go through to not be staked, you probably wouldn't feel so bad about your actions in each set of 80 years on its face. Sometimes I think about how many vampires never imagined they'd be where they are and that they're thinking 'What now?' And 'how do I live?'"

"So you think many are not cut out for immortality?"

"Hmm, I'm not sure that's it. I think... most don't have a plan for how they're going to live beyond what they thought they would when they were human. And that makes them act without thought, because they rose into their new life without a plan. A vampire's environment also guides him or her, and you guys have had to be merciless in order to defend yourself in a world where you needed to stay hidden. Most old vampires, you as the exception, seem a little crazy and broken by my reckoning. Which I also attribute to isolation, always running and never being able to be yourself at any time, lest a human kill you. I'm sure that's often why you guys make children. You don't want to be on the run alone and you want it to mean something again. But I think there's hope now, that if you live in the open you'll no longer need these hard shells and maybe you guys can learn to be happy."

"Too close to home, fae." The vampire looked away and put on what I'd come to know as his woe-is-me-face.

"Don't act like you don't like what I'm saying Godric. You're only upset because you think it's not a life you deserve. But it is. I'll make sure of it when I quit."

"They won't let you take me."

"You think they can stop me?"

"No. I suppose not." I had told Godric almost everything about me. Except Eric and Bill's names, because that would be a disaster. What if he knew them? Even Godric was a damned traitor when he suggested that I should cut the blond vampire in the story of my life some slack. _Why does everyone want to defend Eric Northman?_

Since Godric had come into my life, I had felt more at ease with my nature even if I wasn't actively training in fae magic. There were many other halflings, quarter-blood, eighth-blood, etc. but not all had the spark and those who did looked like flickering lightbulbs. I'd been slowly working up the courage to open that stupid book and start reading, Godric prodding me with encouragement. I'll never understand why the vampire thought he had nothing to offer. He was as sweet as a peach pie and a gentleman.

"Sookie. I have an idea."

"Yes, my antique companion?" He harrumphed, or as best a teenage body could.

"Now I don't feel so terrible about what I am going to suggest. I won't go with you to Dark City if you do not train your fae skills. Actually, I think I'll leave SSS altogether if you don't do it."

"That's underhanded."

"I know, do you like it?" When Godric looked at me with that 'did I do well mommy?' face, my heart would always melt. And he knew that too, that fangy… jerk.

"I don't. Not in the slightest. Jesus Christ Shepherd of Judea, Godric why'd you have to force my hand?"

"Your great grandfather tried, your vampire tried, then your close friends. It's my turn." He mockingly pouted.

"You only _look_ like a child vampire."

"How do you think I survived all those years? By acting like a full grown man in public? No, this vampire had to act like any other adolescent boy. I've gotten very good at it."

"Adolescent boys don't pout or blackmail. And seventeen qualified as a man in your time." I was sitting up now, crossing my arms. The little voice inside me said that he was probably, likely, certainly; ok absolutely right about needing to train.

"Maybe they don't. But an old…. animal can learn new things?"

"Dog. Tricks."

"You really must open that book my dear. Or, however will you learn to turn Richard into a human glowstick? Speak of the devil, he'll be here in 20 seconds."

"Ugh! Does he ever let the fuck up?" Godric shrugged exaggeratedly and smiled. They didn't have "shrugs" back when vampire wasn't an antique. Our bunks were our rooms, having been equipped with a peep hole camera and everything. I pulled up the image on the screen next to my door. Richard had his face shoved close to the camera, examining it. Sometimes he was such a fucking dolt when he wasn't being a superior jackass. I hit the speaker button.

"Richard." I bit out the word at him, hoping it would smack him in the face if I said it loud enough.

"Stephanie? Open up please."

"No thanks. We had our pow wow for the day." I could see him sigh and rub his hand through his hair.

"Please?" What a magical word. One that Richard so rarely ever said now that he'd become a Big Boss. I looked over to Godric to see his reaction. He gave me a thumbs up. I guess he _was_ around during the Roman empire. I hit a button and the door unlocked and slid open. Richard tried to take a step forward, but I leaned in the doorway, denying him entrance.

"We should talk privately."

"Whatever you have to say can be said out here."

"No it can't." I turned around to Godric, and he gave me another crazy up and down shrug. We were going to have to work on that one.

"Fine." My hand slid away from the door frame as I turned on my heel and collapsed on my bed. I was thankful then that I had read about power positions and how they dictated conversations between people. Vampires had already perfected it to an artform and all vampires were artists. Some better than most, others abstract, like Godric. By laying on my back with my arms behind my head, legs resting casually on my mattress, I was signaling to Richard just exactly who was in control of this conversation. _Take a wild fucking guess who is alpha here, Richard._

"Have you thought about what I said Stephanie?"

"We spoke about twenty minutes ago Richard. Seriously?" Screw this, I'm going in.

 _...critical. She is critical to the success of Dark City. I will let her have_

 _Egil there, her privacy, any training facilities she might need, but she_ must _come!_

"Why is it that I'm so necessary that you would allow for Egil to come unimpeded by bureaucracy?"

"It disturbs me greatly when you do that Stephanie." He said coldly.

"Then you should be honest with me, Richard." Tit for tat.

"I am. I was trying to be. Fine. We need you. Eventually we will have to completely staff Dark City. Most of them will come from Dallas because I insisted since I'm heading up a branch of SSS from inside. They won't be glamored, given your having checked everyone out already, but there will be other military branches and new people will enter Dark City. What then? We both know there will be glamored humans amongst them."

"So you want me to put the plug in Dark City. What do I get?"

"Egil, privacy, training facilities to practice whatever you need…"

"Egil was coming anyway if I agreed to go, so he's not a bargaining chip. I like the privacy idea. Can we put both Egil and I in the same room without silver all around us?"

"Absolutely not!"

"I guess you don't have anything to offer me then." I sniffed and looked at the ceiling before tilting my head back to look at Godric upside down for a moment. The vampire's lips twitched ever so slightly. Something about dressing down Richard made Godric laugh. He and I had decided on a game where I would say things to make Richard flustered and if Godric smiled, he lost.

"Name what you want! Besides having your vampire wandering around without a leash!"

"I could put a leash on him if it made you happy. Would you accept that Egil?" I looked over to Godric in all seriousness.

"Do I need to bark?" The vampire's reply was equally solemn.

"No, hissing will do nicely." I assured my brother in arms.

"It will be done. Do you approve Richard?" How Godric had been able to keep up this ruse of him being an out-of-touch vampire for the entirety of SSS personnel was masterful. Godric's tone to the unlearned listener sounded like sincerity. Yes of course a two thousand year old vampire would walk around on a leash and hiss if it was expected of him!

"No! No leash, no hissing and no running amuck!"

"You're about to get boring. I hate it when you're boring Richard." I threw my arm over my eyes. Make it stop.

"Ok. You can have unlimited and unsupervised access to my fae texts. The training room will have no cameras and it will be sound proof so you can be alone there. After two years… I will release you from your contract, and you can take Egil with you."

I sat up, shocked. Taking Godric with me had always been the plan, but not having to worry about SSS chasing us or in any way hindering us was better. We'd make it work if it turned out that way, but this was so much easier. As for the texts, I wanted to feel utter distaste at the thought, but Godric's half-real threat of not coming with me made the gears of my mind turn.

"You're going to let me touch your precious texts?"

"Yes. And I won't even ask you what you've learned. I know you've been hiding things from me Stephanie." His eyes looked dark and his feelings of betrayal were tangible. I looked away as if not wanting to look at or hear him. Slipping back into his mind I found that he suspected I could teleport, glamor vampires, and was otherwise a little bit more faerie than I was letting on. That wasn't so bad. _Is glamoring vampires even a thing?_

"All right. I agree. Egil, you coming?"

"Yes."

"Excellent, we leave tomorrow at dawn. There will be a casket delivered to Egil's room tonight. Your accommodations are already prepared onsite." Richard was rubbing his hands together in glee as he walked out of the room.

"Like always, he's only self-interested but he means well." I answered Godric's unasked questions.

"Then we should be fine. But I do expect you to start working on your spark. I know it is very powerful because it innately protects you by not showing itself except when necessary."

"Ok… I guess… I'll finally take you up on the offer to tell me more about magic and vampires. But no trying to hook me up with your son or get me to tell you about my- _the_ vampire."

"Your vampire? When I meet him I will only refer to him as yours."

"You wouldn't. He would be mighty offended."

"He can't be older than me, which means he can't afford to give me any lip. Did I use that one right?"

I chuckled. "Yes you did."

"Ok, more twilight tonight?" Now I groaned. Godric really, really wanted to watch it and so I reluctantly rented it only to have him glued to the screen telling me about all the inconsistencies and criticizing the vampire behavior as being unrealistic.

"No! No more sparkly vampires!"

***Eric***

Brown hair wrapped itself around my face and between my lips. As I blinked awake, I almost expected the soft breathing and warmth of a human. _No my darling, you'll never breathe again. But you will live._

"Willa. Rise."


	17. Chapter 17

Thanks Suzymeinen for beta'ing this! Again, I appreciate the reviews. It wasn't something I thought I would care as much about, but it's really nice getting those notifications in my inbox and seeing what people think of the story, good or bad. Even the negative criticism is welcome, as it helps me realize how I could better shape the story.

We were somewhere outside of Dallas in a military base that had been established solely to protect the entrance of Dark City. No one amongst us, not even Richard, knew the location we had been taken to or how to get there. The SSS housed all of us in the Dallas branch the night before and escorted us out to our transportation the next morning when a text message had been sent out with the coordinates. Richard had me screen the drivers for each vehicle to ensure they had not been glamored. The drivers would be coming with us into the city. It wasn't worthwhile to check everyone else until we got into the base. Everyone besides the drivers, including me, were blindfolded the entire ride there in military vehicles. The goal was to have everyone and everything inside Dark City in one day. By nightfall it would be too late for vampire interference. The vampires would find out the location of the entrance at some point, but every delay counted until we were all settled in.

Currently I was nestled behind a one-way mirror inside of a makeshift office scanning persons who would promptly enter Dark City. Richard was there by my side, directing the personnel in and out.

"The one on the left, buzz cut slightly pock marked face."

"You're joking right?"

"Not today. Is he high up?"

"He's supposed to head up our security system. Unbelievable."

The hits just kept on coming. The glamor on this man's mind was thick. It must have been the first time he was glamored because there had been no holes in his brain otherwise. The vampires would have waited until the very last second to get to him on the assumption he would pass through, having been already cleared.

"I know it sucks."

"It _sucks_ is not the right word. We lost half of our staff and their families will have to be moved out today. I hope the vampires don't take it out on the humans when they fail to report on the city, but we have no choice."

"At least they didn't get in, right?" I tried to tell myself that nothing bad would happen to those people. That the vampires would say 'oh well, better luck next time!' And un-glamor the humans they tried to use as operatives. But they probably wouldn't. That's not what they do. Who knew how much collateral damage I was causing as a result of denying entry to these people.

"Today."

I had to feel bad for Richard. This was his baby, his dream, and it was being pummeled to death. If I had carefully teased out all the things that could go wrong, I maybe would have come within shooting distance of how bad things were now. To start with, the entirety of the Dallas SSS had been on lockdown for about a month before we left. All SSS outposts had enough emergency stores of food to last a month for their staff, which meant that Dallas was generally prepared to host all of us for that amount of time. No one was allowed to leave the building or make any contact with the outside. Personally, I was amazed we hadn't been fire bombed while we were staying there. Yet the whole thing worked and our staff's brains were as clean as a whistle. I chalked up the lack of an attack to the overconfidence of the vampires that they didn't have to infiltrate every base.

The staffing weakness we were experiencing had been the outside personnel sent from other facilities to join us. They had not been protected from being glamored, which was why we had the problem we did currently; most of the leaders of each branch had been compromised.

"And you're sure you don't want to use Egil?" I asked quietly. Richard looked around to see who was listening.

"No one is aware he is coming. I didn't dare attempt to try and get him in above board." I sucked in my breath.

"Are you on V? What are you thinking?!"

"Quiet!" He continued, "come on Stephanie. I may not know who he is, but I know he's old enough that his name would have come up in the records. Any other vampire I might have been able to make it work, but they'd want to identify him."

"So then why did you decide he could come? I've never known you to deviate from the rules."

"Because you wouldn't come otherwise!" He hissed at me before looking around again to ensure no one had heard us.

"Fine." I blew out a breath in defeat. He was totally right of course. I was making a big deal about it now because at the time I made the decision to come, I considered Richard a tool. But in the past couple months he'd been reasonable and even nice. The stress of the project had eroded what Richard would have considered his professionalism. I thought it was more that he lost his mask, and when he did he was a pleasant person to be around. When he first started acting differently, I skimmed his thoughts often to try and detect where he was at mentally. I disliked him still, certainly, but I didn't want him to get overwhelmed like Octavia had. While I still hadn't forgiven him for that, I also knew he didn't deserve any misery either. He was also now the only person I now associated with at the SSS besides Egil. Maybe I wouldn't even turn him into a glow stick, as Godric had so jokingly put it.

Since the team's breakup, I hadn't made any friends besides Godric. I'd learned a lesson about getting close to others; if Diantha could die, imagine what could happen to Weres and humans. The idea of a potentially violent death awaiting anyone I regularly interacted with was a great deterrent to having any relationships. Godric was kind of a fluke that way. I selfishly wanted to save him and since he was forced to stay in the SSS all the time, he had slipped past my 'rule' about intimacy. The rule was 'don't'.

Yup. I was still a virgin without ever having had a steady boyfriend, and not for lack of interest. I'd been propositioned by several Weres and hybrids of other varieties to varying degrees. One-night-stands, casual fuck buddies, dating with the possibility of more and outright confessions of 'I love you!' I'd gotten very good about not being accosted in any capacity to avoid those uncomfortable conversations. Trust a fairy to learn how to be sneaky.

"The other four are good though. Why don't we bring in the next batch." I'd never seen Richard look like he had no idea what to do.

"They're grunts. I don't even know what to do anymore." He echoed my assessment of him.

"It's going to be ok." I put my hand on his shoulder to comfort him. My shields were good enough to not hear him but I ducked in anyway.

 _I think this is it. All our information points to vampires having infiltrated all of the SSS locations excepting Dallas. The sheer amount of times I've been approached about how we keep the Dallas location clean has been terrifying. If they find out about Stephanie we're screwed, and she's screwed. If it comes to that… I'll have to let her go with Egil and ask him to protect her. I never thought it would be easy to make a world where Supes and humans could get along. But this… this is impossible. Our only hope is to seal ourselves in and pray that all information regarding Dark City's construction is destroyed._

I'd not thought about how they dealt with the secrecy of construction before. I assume that they gave everyone who worked on it new identities and a payout.

Dark City was both the best and worst solution for a vampire influence free government, all at once. If we got in safely and it was locked tight, we'd be good and the outside world would benefit greatly. If we had a leak, we'd all be dead. The construction itself was something I wasn't familiar with, but Richard had been assured by his higher ups that incredible precautions had been taken to ensure Dark City always had power, air and food. It would be self sufficient, was the promise.

"I'm not sure now. Almost every leader of each branch has been compromised. Is there any way you can know what they've been glamored to do?" Richard threw me a desperate look, hoping for some kind of deus ex machina.

"Yeah, I know what they intend. It's mostly spying, with some theft and assassination attempts mingled in. And if you're thinking what I think you are, it won't work. We can't take them in and isolate them to prevent their glamor from mucking things up while still utilizing their skills. They'll find a way to do what they were told to do by the vampires. Why would you even ask?"

"You're right. Why did I even ask?" His response was tetchy. No point in confronting him on that.

"We have ten more groups after this. You're not tired are you?" His voice betrayed his apprehension that if I failed to catch all of the glamored staff from entering, we would be in a lot of trouble.

"Nope. Let's see the next batch." The one glamored man out of the bunch was lead away after Richard spoke into a microphone that linked to one of the guards in the room. I felt for the guy. All of us had planned and prepared for this day and for anyone to be denied entry was a waste of months, maybe years of training and hopes. Thankfully none of the glamored people had become violent upon discovery or we'd have an even more tragic situation on our hands.

"Here are your accommodations Ms. Anderson."

"Thank you." The Were nodded and left. I was thankful that the opening to Godric's room was set back enough that you'd have to step inside my room to see it. And no one ever would besides Richard. The hallway itself was restricted access of which only my badge and Richards could open. Godric's presence would be as secure as a secret could be in a place like this.

What Richard had done ran contrary to the standard that the head of each branch here at SSS should have equal knowledge. I'd say he was walking a fine line, but he wasn't walking it. He'd barrel rolled right on over that line. It was only a matter of time before he was discovered and then I had to get us out of here. My ability to portal was the one thing that made me feel like this could work.

Currently Godric was hidden in plain sight as some of my luggage for his entry. All of the supplies going into the City were being guarded by Weres who had been checked for glamor and were still here on lockdown. I was informed that my 'luggage' would be here shortly after I arrived.

I barely had a chance to check out my room before a knock on the door told me my bags had shown up. The door itself slid open with the push of a button. Whoever had dropped the bags off had walked away right after. I quickly and quietly rolled Godric over to the other door and used my thumb print to open it. Wheeling him inside I made sure the door was closed before I unlocked and then unlatched the large rectangular box. It wasn't nightfall yet, but it was close. I had been one of the last people to move in and Richard would be down in an hour. After he entered, the city would be sealed up from the inside. We had cut it close, with sundown being about 45 minutes away. Hopefully all the glamored persons had been taken away from the base above.

Amelia had demanded to meet up before everything got serious with Godric and I heading to Dark City. I didn't tell her about Godric. Not only because his existence at the SSS was classified, but because, well, Amelia. She had always been good at keeping secrets when we were all together. It wasn't that she had changed. She'd always struggled with staying out of other people's business. The crux of it was that we didn't work together anymore but Amelia wanted the same amount of details as if we did.

" _Can't tell you that either."_

" _I'm sure it's harmless. You're fully capable of taking care of yourself."_

" _That's not the problem Amelia! What about the rest of the SSS? They're putting people in witness protection when their role in construction is complete, that's how serious this is. No one can know about this!"_

" _My best friend, who I am rarely ever able to see or hear from is about to disappear off the face of the earth in a month or so for years, and I'm not allowed to ask any questions about it."_

" _Don't deflect. This isn't about you knowing what I'm doing or where I'm going. It's about protecting the other people involved. Were you born in a barn?" I sighed. I wasn't about to let her screw the pooch with her big mouth. It was obvious that my witch friend had not adjusted well to her life's new pace. There wasn't much adventure to be had living in one of her father's condos and working a "free money" job, as Amelia referred to it._

 _I knew that was why she acted out every time I called her. It was getting embarrassing to try and put off 'the talk' of why things couldn't be like they were in the good old days. There were plenty of hints dropped and topic changes, to no avail. Amelia had lived the same life as I had once, but now our day to day didn't have that much in common anymore. I had responsibilities to other people and Amelia had people to be responsible for her. She couldn't practice witchcraft around her father and I was encouraged to discover more about my abilities. People still died or were hurt at the SSS while Amelia sometimes helped host charity balls for starving children. I was sad that Amelia and I were moving in different directions in life and hoping our friendship would continue to transcend the circumstances of our meeting._

" _No, no. I get it. But I miss you and I wish things hadn't fallen out as they had. I visit Octavia's grave every month and leave flowers. Things should have gone differently…" Amelia's voice cracked at the end, regret and pain lacing her words._

" _I know. Me too." Talking with Amelia inspired that warm feeling of home, where even if things were shit, someone loved you. It reminded me I had other people who loved me to get back to someday. With Amelia I learned that recklessness isn't a reason to run from a situation. In my mind's eye I felt humiliation at my decision to get the hell out of dodge and not confront the vampiric issues at hand. Hindsight being what it is, I shouldn't hold it against myself. But it was easy to slip into that mindset of having failed those I love and remember my fear as being justified and a good reason to act the way I did._

" _I_ do _think I'm witch enough that I should know where you're going. Just in case." She was trying to sneak in again, half-heartedly. Poor Amelia was like a war veteran who couldn't stop feeling she was on the eve of battle._

" _Amelia. We both have Gladiola's blood. If anything happens I'll call her. Don't try being a hero here. Stay safe. You don't work for the SSS anymore and they can't protect you. If you interfere with me and my position with them, you'll be putting my life in jeopardy."_

" _You always say that you're fine and you have all these protections, but someday you're not going to work for the SSS anymore. And at some point you'll go home. If it's half as dangerous as it was when you were there, it's probably more so now that you're coming into your own as a fae. Let me be there for you."_

" _You are there for me, and you can be there for me then, too. But I can't tell you where I am going this time, and I don't know the next time we'll be able to speak. It may be several years."_

" _It's not fair… Can't you tell Richard no?"_

" _Not this time."_

Godric chose this minute to rise, flipping open the lid. He looked around before locking his eyes on me.

"Good evening sir! And how do you find your accommodations this fine night?" The deceptively young-looking vampire took in his surroundings. Watching his slow gaze, I could note exactly what he was taking in. The bar metal walls and floor, silver bars and net between our rooms, a plain bed with no sheets, my unpacked room and double sets of lights on his ceiling but not mine. Richard had told me that they had to install UV lights in the "vampire cell". That was how Godric's room had been arranged; under the guise of being a holding room for any vampires that happened to make it down here and live.

"It matters not. You are next to me." He graced me with his shy and open smile. All this time and I'd never felt one tense moment where I thought maybe Godric was into me romantically. His words without context sounded like he was, but I knew him better than that. At this point, the vampire was happy to be emotionally alive again, and have someone he could call a friend. His days of sex-crazed bloodlust were over for him.

"I'm glad. I think the privacy of this place makes me feel safe enough to start training. I never felt comfortable in Dallas proper."

"Richard will attempt to spy on you here as well." He said quietly. Avoiding Richard's spying at the SSS had been easy, but that I had to do so caused me too much stress to learn effectively. My inclination was to not try in the first place and stress made mastering my abilities a non-starter. At this point being Sookie Stackhouse forever with a little bit of weirdness wasn't so bad. That was progress from my previous opinion that my telepathy was a disability. My mastery of my shields played a part in my newfound comfort with reading minds.

"He promised me private training time in a locked room. If he comes near it, I'll be able to sense him."

"I want to encourage you to be careful, but I know you will be. May I ask how blood will be arranged?"

"Oh! Gosh, I'm sorry!" I quickly portaled over to my luggage and popped open a well-disguised cooler filled with bags of donor blood. Placing my hands on it, I took it with me when I popped back into Godric's room. "Here. This is to start off. Richard is enforcing a policy of blood donation to ensure we have ample supply on hand should there be an emergency. We have enough people that you'll have bags of blood before they officially expire."

"I shouldn't need too many." Godric still was a petite eater. No one would suspect the disappearing blood bags. The process of moving items around Dark City was by mechanical turk. The person who packed the bags would not be the one to deliver them. The package would show up like clockwork outside the door of the secured hallway and I would give it to Godric.

With all personnel receiving messages or orders that were delivered and internally stored in an email-like system, no one would ever need to come into my room. Each room had a tablet next to the door and we all carried modified iPhones that received any needed correspondence. It was the perfect amount of privacy and social interaction for me.

"Figured as much. I'm going to get started putting things away and see what we can do to get some media down here. I don't want you getting bored. You have yet to watch _Gone with the Wind_ with me." I snagged the box Godric had come in and took it back to my room. We had an official storage space for all of our emptied bags that I'd have to take all this to when I was finished.

"I hope you don't mind if I go to bed soon." I said after yawning deeply. "I'm exhausted from today."

"Not at all. Did you bring any books?"

"Yeah, I downloaded a mass of classic literature on this kindle. Here you go." I slipped the device through the netting and bars. Godric spent most of his time reading these days if he wasn't talking to me or badgering me about my training.

I finished up organizing and putting things away and felt another yawn force its way out.

"Night Godric." I dimmed the light switch at the door, pulled the aptly provided curtains across our window and fell asleep upon hitting my mattress, clothes still on.

***Eric***

"Now that state financials are in order, I'd like to discuss recent events regarding the Authority." Bill addressed his Sheriffs and their seconds, closing up the quarterly check-in for the state of Louisiana.

He continued, "the rumblings of the humans finally completing a stronghold designed to keep vampire influence out of government has been officially confirmed. King Felipe De Castro of Nevada has been appointed by the Authority to investigate and make a full report on its resistance to infiltration. I also had attempted to place a spy within the ranks of those who entered the human underground compound known as Dark City. Last night I found out the operative was unsuccessful and all of my contacts who also had plans to enter were rebuffed. Given the magnitude of negative responses, as far as I can tell no glamored humans made it into Dark City. While I cannot guarantee its accuracy, it's safe to say Felipe is stuck on the same playing field as every other state in regards to the compound. However, I expect all of you to keep your ears to the ground should anyone claim to have an inside to the base. You will be reporting this information to me if you hear it, is that clear?"

A few sidelong glances were exchanged and we all nodded. It was unfathomable that no single glamored human had made it in. Yet my network of people had already confirmed what Bill had said. Dark City was looking like everything the humans wanted it to be; impervious to vampire influence.

"As you all know, Felipe's marriage proposal still stands, with several changes having been made and reviewed in the past year. It is unlikely I will accept this particular contract, but not impossible. It is not yet necessary to rally the troops to battle, but it may be coming soon. Alabama, Texas and Mississippi are non-committal on providing support of any kind to our State. No marriage contracts will be offered to these states given that Felipe clearly intends to take over them at some point in the future. Marrying into them would only encourage Felipe to kill two birds with one stone. I believe he has picked our state to start his expansion with because it is the weakest and it would be a good base of operations for a vampire looking to rule the majority of the south and beyond. The Authority is paying Felipe handsomely for his actions regarding Dark City and Nevada itself is quite financially stable." We all knew this, but it bore repeating. Money could buy muscle and muscle was all that we had. The presence of a few powerful Sheriffs that Felipe dare not confront without the backing of the Authority and other older vampires kept the king of Nevada operating in proper channels, for now.

"Though our finances are in a much better state since Sophie-Anne's removal, our gains and potential future gains are fragile. Victor Madden is continuing to represent Felipe's interests in Louisiana. I have decided to have him take a long tour of the state, spending about two weeks in each territory in a month." Upon hearing Bill's words the room collectively shuffled and readjusted, which was its own form of protest. Victor Madden was scum of the earth and no one wanted to host the spoiled and dangerous prat.

"Yes. You all have my condolences in advance." Bill said dryly. "I will not neglect to remind you that he has been in and out of my court for the past three months." He took a stack of papers in front of him and tapped the edges of it on the counter to line up the pages.

"Questions?" Bill was coming into his own as a king. He had a good rapport with his Sheriffs, which begrudgingly included me. The man left me to run my area as I saw fit and never questioned my methods. I had always shown I was above reproach and Bill provided his recognition of that. He was a stark contrast to Sophie-Anne's dictatorial running of Louisiana. The former queen's need for secrecy was born out of her shameful inability to manage her finances. She was a shrewd business woman and always found new markets, but her skills in that sphere were not a match for her extravagant tastes. As legitimate means of acquiring capital dried up, her lack of mainstreaming acceptance became prominent in her revenue schemes. Her attempted forcible glamoring and enslavement of a human, a one Sookie Stackhouse, signed her death warrant and Bill happily picked up the pieces.

"Are there rules regarding the potential mistreatment of donors?" I asked, knowing full well that Victor would cause damage to more than a few humans along the way. We'd be impossibly lucky if he walked away from Louisiana without a single kill.

"I've already made Felipe aware that any indiscretions on Victor's part would be highly frowned upon and a fine would have to be paid as well as any expenses for covering up the incident." It was the only deterrent we could ask for. The human world and vampire world were similar in that neither of us had much in the way of rights in the other. We couldn't bring the human police in even if humans were involved.

"Eric, Victor has decided his tour will start with your territory and end in New Orleans. I ask that while Victor is in my area you agree to watch Jessica for me. In turn I can take Willa before Victor's arrival." We could command our children to not cross Victor, but Victor was always looking to be cross with someone. He was known for picking on newborns as a way of getting to their maker. Neither Willa nor Jessica could be trusted to not cave under pressure from the cruel vampire.

"Agreed."

"If there is anyone else who needs to send newborns away, they are welcome in my Area for as long as is necessary under a maker's command to ensure obedience. I expect full reports each day during Victor's stay from each of you. Anything you can learn about him and his companions goes directly to me. Remember that Victor will do his utmost to get under your skin and incite a verbal or physical attack. You will not give him the opportunity to claim restitution or retribution. Am I clear?" Again we all nodded.

"Excellent. If you have more questions you may approach me later. You are welcome to the royal donor pool for feeding and other activities." He stood and pushed in his seat, then gestured with a little bow to the double doors that led to the donors. Always formal, Bill had polished his Southern Gentleman demeanor until it shined. It was bright enough to attract attention to the fact that Bill lacked the ferocity of the typical vampire.

The prevailing perception of Louisiana's monarch was that he was too human for his own good. He was Nan Flannigan's, the American spokesperson for the Authority's public facing American Vampire League, new pride and joy. Bill's deep-voiced, ambling manner of speech captured the hearts of those humans who mourned the 'good old days'. His being a full-blooded American from the South who fought in the civil war sealed his right to speak directly to 'the people'. Bill had only done interviews and specials here in Louisiana, but Nan had big plans to have his face on MSNBC, CNN, FOX News and any other magazine or newspaper that would cover vampire issues. His human-like ways were ideal for the face of mainstreaming, but they regrettably attracted vampire vultures.

"Bill." I had remained behind in the conference room, Pam behind and to my right, waiting to discuss Victor Madden further. The king closed the double doors and gestured for me to follow him through the next set of doors into an office. The desk that Bill sat behind was clean and organized, a laptop poised and at the ready in front of him as he sat down.

"It is almost certain Victor will try to bug your bar, attempt to convert your vampires into spies or otherwise leave one behind." Bill started tapping away at his computer while speaking.

"Yes. I think it prudent that we do all we can to distract him. Would it be possible to borrow some of your donors here for his stay in my territory?" The clicking stopped and his eyes locked with mine. I knew he did not want to send any of the women or men here to their potential deaths, but Victor's appetites would need filling and if he did not find enough provided he would go looking for trouble.

"I suppose that is necessary. I trust you have made his reservations for a Penthouse in Shreveport?"

"The entire floor has been rented and the hotel has a private elevator only for that floor so as to avoid vampire and human contact. I will do my best to return your donors in one piece." He waved his hand at me.

"If Victor decides to glut himself, there is nothing we can do. I'm certain Victor has an allowance for fines accrued from Felipe. I will remind all Sheriffs to keep pets away from Victor. If we can handle his tour of Louisiana, we may yet live to see another year." Pam was silent at my side, arms crossed. None of us were particularly happy that Victor would have open access to seeing our strengths and weaknesses as a state. Pam had been working tirelessly to confer with each vampire in my territory about their behavior in front of Victor.

Bill started clacking away again, before he continued, "Any word?" He didn't need to tell me he was referring to Sookie.

"No." The vampire king shifted in his seat. The only reason I continued to tolerate his line of questioning and the exchange of information between us was that by doing so, I could trust he would come to me with information about Sookie Stackhouse if anything did arise from his contacts.

"I will remand Willa to your care in a month's time." Our conversation was finished. We were both anxious to return home and continue with our preparations for Victor's arrival.

"I'll return her when Victor leaves and send Jessica back along with." Bill replied tonelessly, signaling our dismissal. Pam and I rose and made to leave the office.

"One more thing Bill. Ensure Willa and Jessica have an exit plan should Victor show up unannounced." It was something Victor would do.

"I'll make my staff aware. Northman." He officially dismissed the both of us.

"Sir." Pam monotoned.

"Compton."

The night was still young when we exited Bill's home.

"I will fly home Pam. You will take the corvette there." I handed her the keys.

"Some vampires get to have all the fun."

"Some vampires have to make plans in order to not die."

"Ann Landers does not have any advice about what do when a psychopathic vampire comes to visit, but I presume it is similar to a visit from a mother-in-law. Don't worry master, we are prepared and you're just too pretty to die." She said in her deadpanned voice, spinning the keyring around her finger as she strode over to the car.

"As always your logic is unimpeachable."

"That's why you keep me around." The door to the vette swung open and shut. When Pam started the engine I took to the air.


	18. Chapter 18

Thanks Suzy Meinen for beta'ing. I appreciate all the reviews as well. It's nice to hear feedback. :)

***Sookie***

"Ok one more time Stackhouse!" I powered up my crackly and thin shields and tried to hold on. The book said the gift would fight me until I subdued it. All gifts would apparently run from me until I grabbed them by their reigns and demanded they heel. I felt the slippery light trying to elude me; snaking around and reaching for the edges of my control. This time I tried something new. My telepathy, called Audite by the fae, was the strongest gift I had and my power over it was nigh perfect. I used the same principle of looking into minds to _reach_ in and squeeze the hell out of it. _Bend to me,_ I told it.

"Yes! Oh that's so cool!" My shield, or Arma, was locked and loaded. It almost sighed with defeat when it fell into place permanently. The shift in power was distinctive and I knew I'd never struggle with this one again. It was only a matter of believing I could do all that the book said that would prevent me from growing to my full potential.

I had not practiced or had the opportunity to practice the deeper aspects of Audite, which involved memory editing and a low-grade form of mind-control. Most fae could confuse a person into having a different perception of an event, but couldn't alter the memory of it. Some could plant 'suggestions' in a mind but not be assured of their efficacy. In my case the book had suggested that I would be able to edit or completely retool a person's past and present memories as well as change their person fundamentally, which sounded like mind control to me. I was reluctant to chance a practice on some soldiers and see if my suspicions were correct. We had all been trained to look out for mental tampering in ourselves and others. All such potential instances were to be reported.

I lowered my Arma and grabbed a towel to wipe my perspiration. Magic was hard. Harder than I imagined. Somedays if I didn't have Godric all over my ass I think I would sleep in on my weekends.

After I had explained that I had several different gifts to learn, he put together a schedule and a time budget for my education. Yes, all vampires were dictatorial to a fault, but my friend was far from the worst. I swung the door open, surprising the guards. I marched past the both of them, towel over my shoulder.

"All finished boys."

"Hey. I was wondering, what do you even do in there?" The younger of the two eagerly asked.

"Didn't Richard tell you not to ask?" I turned on a dime and put my hands on my hips giving them a superior and chastising look.

"Yeah, well, but. You don't exactly respect him so… I thought I would ask." I sighed. I'm sure the rumor mill had already produced more than a few different reasons why the inspector for staffing additions and supplies would spend her weekends in a walled off part of Dark City.

"I do a P-90x routine that I have memorized. It's a hard workout."

"Oh, ok. That makes sense." I could tell from his thoughts that he flustered from having the gumption to ask me, and didn't want to press my answer. Plus, he was mostly satisfied with my explanation. But I'd have to ask Richard to rotate the guards again anyway. I walked back through the curved hallway to my room. The book had told me new things today and I wanted to share them with Godric.

The book was… odd. It had a mind of its own, making it less like a book and more like a computer hooked up to the fae-internet. Every question I had asked of it was answered. The book was blank and innocuous looking to others, but filled with words and pictures for me. When I first opened it, I had been talking to myself about my telepathy and wondering if it was a fairy gift. Words quickly appeared in english regarding Audite. I tried thinking at it once and it responded to my mind as if I was talking to it. Each day when I finished training the book would rearrange itself into a snippet of history or culture on the fae.

 _A fetus does not produce a light of their own until they are born, and will die if it is not done for them. The pregnant woman cannot produce enough light on her own to stabilize the fetus inside. Due to few female children of our species and the toll it takes to provide enough light for unborn children, mating relationships are often two males per woman who are bound to provide the child with light. The exception is a male royal fae, who possesses enough light to supply their pregnant mate on their own._ _Not unlike vampires, but for different reasons, we are fiercely possessive of our mates. Ours is a product of our difficult reproduction, while vampires are territorial and begrudging of their power, food and personal safety. Males who are bound to a woman, give over their light for a time, making them physically unable to perform enough magic to impregnate anyone else. Between two males, the pregnant female can still be kept safe from harm as they can work in tandem to defend her. These mates are not necessarily the lovers of the woman in question, as often brothers will agree to fill one or both positions as a light giver._

 _A fae child can be dangerous. Their uncontrolled light can hurt anyone but their parents. The light bond through pregnancy carries through into childhood, waning as the child ages. This bond enables the child's light to recognize the parent's light as his or hers, which protects the parents and child from harming one another inadvertently. The bond also allows the parents to absorb any light exuded by the child back into them, preventing accidents. By the time a fae child is five years of age, they are mostly in control of their light and can interact with other fae without the constant company of their parents._

 _In contrast to the tightly knit relationship of light between a woman and one or more males, fidelity is not expected after the birth of a child. Recreational copulation is allowed before mating and after. The exception to this rule are royal fae marriages, which require that both parties maintain their fidelity to one another at all times within the fae species to ensure legitimate offspring. This does not apply to royal fae and human relations._

I couldn't wait to tell Godric that one. My training was always completed at around sundown each day and when I came back he was freshly awake. It was interesting that even so many feet under the ground Godric could feel the sun and would get the bleeds if he stayed up past sunrise.

"So, turns out, I can have two mates as a fae. Godric, would you be ½ of my little poly family?" He looked shocked.

"Sookie, I don't- um." I was looking at him expectantly, waiting to see when he'd realize that I was joking. "You are very... Beautiful and strong… But I don't feel any… drive… for anything." He finished, looking miserable. I felt bad then. I guess that was a question he had thought I would ask one day. Godric was like a father and brother to me, a mentor, a rock.

"Godric." He had avoided eye contact with me but now looked up when I called to him. "I don't feel that way about you either. I was joking with you. Really, I promise! You know that my vampire and your child are the only ones for me. They'll just have to be convinced to share" I smirked at him. Godric wanted his child to meet me, fall in love and for us to live happily ever after. He wouldn't put it that way, but the way he compared us often and said we'd get along marvelously, terribly or both made me think he was matchmaking.

"Let me tell you what I learned today and then you tell me a bedtime story about your son. Okay?"

"I would like that." We called them my bedtime stories, even though neither of us went to bed after. Godric spoke very fondly of his son to me. He had often said to me that I was like a daughter to him as well. My vampire dad was starting to long for his progeny, his feelings having been awakened once more. Godric now truly believed in his own value again and wanted to make amends to his child. Only another year and a half and we would go to meet him. And maybe I'd see Eric too, this time as an equal.

I told him all about fae breeding and he was quite surprised at how harsh and demanding the process of having children must be.

"I'm ready for my story." I laid down on my bed, my head closest to his room.

"Amusing, death-defying? Tell me your preference."

"How about amusing. I like his sense of humor already."

"Very well."

***Eric***

Only Pam knew how haunted I was, and she thought it was bullshit. But in her own way she tried to comfort me. The last thing she ever did to tease me was anchoring a fleshlight into the wall with Sookie's picture above it. I had grabbed a pair of her jimmy choos and gave them to a fangbanger to wear that night and told her to never taunt me again over the fairy. She smirked at me before rushing off to get her shoes back so she could burn them, but did as I asked in the future.

The only distraction was Willa, my fledgling child. She was bartending tonight and flashed me a worshipful look. I tried not to let it remind me of the vermin. My relationship with my newest child had started off successfully, but as she failed to travel Pam's path of independence I found myself comparing her to my other child unfavorably. I had chosen Willa for her defiance of her father's views and her backbone. But perhaps I had misjudged her character and that thought continued to drive wedges between myself and my progeny. Willa had been a means to an end in the Authority's machinations against Louisiana's former governor, Truman Burrell.

Burrell had campaigned somewhat successfully against vampire rights. His actions were an annoyance until they prevented vampires from adopting their progeny in the human way, vampires from marrying humans and restrictions on human adoption for human-vampire couples or anyone with a vampire relative. At that point the Authority stepped in and wrecked havoc on the man's life.

It was revealed that his step wife's sister was a vampire, and she gave several interviews on her experience, all strategically planned by the Authority. Vampire businesses threatened to not pay taxes and sent reports to all the news outlets and the governor, showing that 27% of the state revenue was from vampire business taxes. Vampire hate crimes were rampant at the time, but often undocumented. The Authority sought to control the conversation about these crimes and did so by manufacturing found-footage style phone recordings of human on vampire violence. Their vampire "actors" were already set to be staked and were no loss. Most of Burrell's major public appearances were spoiled by the release of these videos.

The straw that broke the camel's back was when the Authority asked me to seduce his daughter away. It wasn't something I wanted to do; taking humans against their will to give them the second life was cruel. But… When I managed to meet Willa she confessed that she hated her father's actions and supported her mother's relationship with a vampire. Instead of fighting her, I was able to explain how her becoming a vampire could help us and she, being pragmatic and self-sacrificing, had readily agreed. And so Willa Burrell became my second child.

Her father announced her missing on the 4th day of her abduction. The next hour she appeared on national television denouncing her father for his "hateful rhetoric against his own daughter no less." Burrell's reelection dreams failed and his campaign went out with a choked gasp, Burrell himself retiring to an island owned by the Fellowship of the Sun that was promised to be vampire free. He died under not-so-mysterious circumstances to vampires, but it was kept out of the news by the Fellowship. Burrell had been turned before meeting the True Death and was presented to the FoTS with the threat that vampires would go public with footage of Burrell as a vampire saying that he loved it and was completely in the wrong about us. Maker's commands were a bitch. Later, with blood tears pouring down his face, Burrell begged that no one should know his shame and that he should meet the True Death as the ultimate acceptance of his principle that vampires were evil.

After Burrell's removal and his replacement with a more amenable governor, Bill too decided to make a progeny. No longer in fear that his child would be murdered by humans without recourse, he gave life to Jessica, a girl with flaming red hair, green eyes and the palest of complexions. She and Willa were thick as thieves.

"Father?" Willa whispered to me from across the room, her words at a lower decibel than humans could hear.

"Yes darling?" I stayed on my throne, chin resting on a single fist staring down the vermin with a hard gaze.

"Your office?" I could feel the tension and need in her voice. Progeny could be insatiable in the beginning. Willa was somewhat of an exception in that she wanted comfort and acceptance more than wild and bloody sex. In many ways she was like Bill, clinging to her humanity. I vamped off my throne and into my office, waiting for Willa to follow. She was there quickly and dived onto my lap, her arms wrapped around my neck.

"Hold me close. Tell me you love me."

"I love you, with all that I am. Come closer." Her body was already pressed to mine but she snuggled all the more. Having sex with Willa was difficult for me. I had forbade Pam from telling Willa about Sookie and I kept my dossier on the fairy private. It was locked up tight in a safe in my office.

Willa wanted, needed, my companionship and was constantly grasping at my emotions, looking for a piece of my heart that she instinctively knew I denied her. She wanted the place occupied by Sookie without knowing that it was unattainable. In public, I was the perfect maker and had she been less needy our relationship would have flourished. When I would tire of her pushing for more of me, I had Pam surrogate her to keep her away. Pam kept my secrets from Willa, knowing it would only wound the younger vampire and displease me for Willa to know about my obsession with another woman. Pam had been told that Sookie was fae, but not much beyond that. She didn't know that Sookie was royalty, or that she was… gloriously powerful. A valkyrie. A stubbornly fearless human-turned-fae with none of the bullshit of being raised by them.

"Be with me? Don't go… where you go." Willa had her hand on my cheek as I leaned her over my desk. I had been absently caressing her, setting the process of arousing a woman to autopilot. I sighed and stood over her. Her brown hair and doe eyes did not set my heart on fire. It wasn't her body; it was how meek our one sided relationship had made her. Willa had been fierce and ready when I made her, but slowly she wilted as time went on. Pam tried to prop Willa up as I refused to feed our relationship and bond, but it wasn't enough.

"I am cruel to you." I put my hands on either side of her body and looked her in the eye as I tried to tell her the truth. That I couldn't give her what she needed.

"No! No master. I'm sorry for asking. I'm-"

"Shhh. You did nothing wrong. You are right. I go somewhere, in my head. It is wrong to do that to you, but I cannot stop myself anymore. I am drawn away from us by these thoughts."

"Let me help you! Is it the reason you lock your door? The calls you take where Pam keeps me upstairs so I can't hear? I can help, I will be of use to you, I promise."

"It is those things, but with this there is nothing you can offer. Nor can Pam." She started to cry, fat blood tears rolling down the sides of her face, lips atremble.

"Please, please don't cry."

"Don't get your suit…" She hiccuped. "Dirty."

"I'll buy a new one. Please Willa, cease."

"Just… let me see Pam." Gently she pushed herself up and hid her face in her hair, smearing her arm with blood as she wiped it away from her skin. I tugged at my bond with Pam and she was in the office instantly. With her bitchy face and folded arms, she assessed the situation and gave me a hard look. I sent my sadness and self hatred over my failure regarding Willa back to Pam. Her gaze softened but she looked bitter as she walked over to Willa and linked their arms.

"Come sister. It's nothing that shopping with Eric's card can't fix."

I was left in my office, alone with my guilt.

***Sookie***

I had brought a mirror today, ready to practice Velum. After mastering the Arma, I looked at Velum or veiling. I had already been unconsciously doing this by pretending to be human-Sookie while actually being fairy-Sookie. I also knew instinctively that I was always cloaking my scent and my presence. My defensive gifts were all strong, which the book told me was due to the amount of pressure I'd been under. Sadness and fear were the kindling and matches to awakening my powers.

My Velum was strong to have always made my fairy form seem completely human. It was proving difficult to control outside of this, however. Naturally it preferred to stick to human Sookie as a cover. All of the different faces I tried out started morphing back into mine as soon as I stopped paying attention. Today the book gave me new advice on the matter, almost as if it knew my frustration. I swore up and down to Godric that the book had to be alive.

"Ok, let's do Godric's face. Come on now." I pushed and pulled my power out of me as it clung to its bearings. Finally it was yanked free and my face started to change. I could feel the magic stretching and draping over me. It always did so naturally when I was covering fairy Sookie with human Sookie, but would fight me on every other change like it was now.

Godric appeared in the mirror and I smiled at him as he smiled back. _I am going to scare the bejeezus out of him._ When I felt the pins of my willpower slip out of the magic being held in place, I took a fistful of light, hammered it back in and repeated the same process at every focus point. Godric stayed with me in the mirror, his face never rippling.

The book said to hold the magic there, and let it fight until it didn't. When it inevitably lost, it would come to my call without argument. Magic was such a bitch; every skill had to be fought over until the magic would do what it was told.

"Looks like I have Velum. We'll do this tomorrow, and you better do as I say mister!" Yup. I was talking _to_ my magic now. When I looked over to the book it had changed again to tell me more about my people.

 _Maeve and Empusa were the first of Lilith and Samael's children, both containing magic. Though they came out of the womb entwined, they were immediate enemies. Maeve's body thrummed with light and the life she had been given was sufficient. Empusa was born dying, her light and life ebbing into the darkness. The scent of Maeve's magic pulled at Empusa, fostering her belief that Maeve had stolen her light within the womb. It was within Maeve's power and her desire to cast a Formae to even the balance of magic between them out of love for her sister, but before she could do so, Empusa attacked her. Empusa bit and clawed Maeve, attempting to consume Maeve's light from her body. When the blood of Maeve touched her lips, it filled Empusa with magic and light. She could feel her life's flame grow stronger the deeper she drank._

 _Maeve survived the attack and vowed to never help her sister after the betrayal. Empusa's body soon reverted to its original state, Maeve's stolen magic and light leaving her. Knowing that her sister would seek her out once more, Maeve left for another realm. Before her departure, she cast a Formae that would cause the sun to draw out the tiny light of life that connected Empusa and her kind to this earth. It forced Empusa and her kind into complete darkness and away from Maeve's light loving children. Empusa and her sisters Mormo and Lamia fell into subsistence on animal blood until Adamah and Chava were born._

 _With their mother dead, and Samael's protection lifted, Empusa and her sisters began to feed upon the humans. Often they would share their own blood with their prey, delighting in the feelings of the humans projected into their minds. At times they drank their prey dry and would bed down with the bodies, sated. When the first of their progeny rose, the sisters became sparing of their blood and taught their children the same. But soon there were many children of Empusa and her ilk, jeopardizing all the fae in their realm as well as the humans. Findabair, daughter of Mab and Aililli,_ _came from the realm to work a Formae onto the humans to fear the darkness and to attack the creatures that come from it. Her magic was too effective and soon Cu-Sith, Cat-Sith, Wulvers and night dwelling-fae were despised and pursued by humans. The tradeoff was acceptable and Findabair, exhausted from her Formae, did not make another to repair the damage._

I thought about that for a second. The book had been careful to explain that magic and life were distinct elements. Humans were primarily the bearers of life and did not require magic to exist. From what this was saying, Fae were mostly magic with just enough life, and vampires contained a bit of concentrated magic and a small amount of life that constantly was in the process of dying.

I thought of Sophie-Anne and her desire to acquire me. Eric had been right. Given that I was fae, vampires would always pursue me looking to consume the magic inside me. It was their nature, and it was tragic. I was thankful I could cloak my scent and magic, lest I drive Godric crazy.

The most interesting tidbits from the book's readings was the mention of Formae. The book said that only a queen of the fae could wield a Formae and not all queens were capable. A Formae was a manipulation of the species or a person that housed magic. When a fae was born, they had their limit of magical power and ability set in stone, just like their eye or hair color. Theoretically, one could use a Formae to change those features. No fae had ever used a Formae for such a selfish purpose, but it was allowable. Besides sending vampires into the darkness and making humans fear the darkness, there had been a few other changes made. We had silver teeth and fangs as a result of one Formae. Another gave noble fae the ability to cloak themselves and other fairy related creatures.

More to tell Godric I suppose. When I reached my room, there was an envelope at the threshold of my door. I picked it up and saw that it was from Richard. Irritated, I pulled out the piece of paper and started reading.

"Oh my god. Yes! Yes! Godric!" I shoved my door open and saw Godric on red alert at the sound of my outburst. "Look, look at it!" I shoved the note between the bars and let him gingerly take it. He smiled upon reading it. Richard had agreed to allow Godric to train with me. It made my mind spin, thinking about how my working with Godric would change everything.

"Prepare yourself fae, I will teach you how to fight my kind." He looked positively devious.

"I've tangled with a half demon or two, I am sure I can take you." My vampire taskmaster chuckled.

"Now we will see if that's true. You should thank Richard."

"Yes… You're absolutely right." I called him up immediately and he answered as professionally as the first day we had spoke on the phone.

"Thank you Richard. You have no idea how much this means to me. How did you arrange this?"

"The decision is solely within my purview. Egil will be given a badge that will function only while you are not at work inspecting the minds of incoming and current staff. There will be no more guards posted to the doors of the training room, and others will be restricted from access to the halls and the room itself during the times you use it. I have done everything possible to keep Egil's existence from the rest of the staff and I want that to continue. And you're welcome. I hope he is able to help you with your training. If you could put in a good word with him that maybe we could speak honestly at some point in the future, I would… appreciate it." I wasn't even upset at Richard that he wanted a favor in return. That was his way.

"I will talk to him."

"Thank you Stephanie."

Godric and I were going to train together, whenever we wanted, without restriction. I couldn't wait to kick his ass.


	19. Chapter 19

Thanks Suzy Meinen for beta'ing. Thanks for the reviews guys! This is a "bonus" chapter because I'm getting ahead of my buffer chapters that I keep on tap for release. If anyone wants to be a pre-readers, let me know. Constructive criticism is helpful.

***Sookie***

"No hesitation, attack me!"

I portaled behind him and sensed his movement to turn, so I skipped away again and hoped I would be where his back was when I came out. He predicted me, as he had the last time we sparred, and I tried to learn my lesson by jumping away and back again before tapping him out. We both smiled with pride at my accomplishment.

"Looks like I'm doing better! I'll check the book and see if it lets me proceed to the next lesson." I skipped away from Godric as he stood and faced the wall. The book would not make words appear if Godric was reading over my shoulder. It was understandable, but annoying. I grabbed the book off the floor and cradled it in my arms.

 _For those who can use Stamine, there is no up or down, right or left. It is the key to fae battle and must be used offensively. A fae appears where he must, letting Audite guide his light and hand. A fae well versed in Audite should be able to hold off many enemies attacking at once and his strike will always be true._

"Cheese and Rice! The book is still yammering on about Stamine! I've been doing it though! I don't even get sick anymore from teleporting!" Godric and I had been practicing for two weeks with great improvement, but the book kept showing the same few sentences each time I asked it what else I should do.

"You have been using your Audite to focus on me when we fight, yes?"

"Yes. I've been keeping track of you and I can feel where you are with my mind. Predicting your movements is difficult but doable." We were both silent, Godric lost in thought while I was subsumed by frustration. I closed the book and dropped it with a heavy smack on the ground.

 _Take that._

"From what the book indicates, it should be no trouble to you at all." I know he didn't mean that to sound like I was failing. His voice was distant and trailing off as he spoke. But my brain's knee jerk reaction was to yell.

"I know what it says! But it's not working like that!" I gripped chunks of my hair in frustration, pulling the pieces flat on my head. This had been the most cryptically described ability in the book so far.

"Let's talk more about Audite." Godric came closer to me and directed me to sit down next to him. I let my knees unlock and plopped unceremoniously to the floor with a sigh. We'd only been here two hours and I was considering throwing in the towel already.

"We've discussed it. I read minds and can probably control a human or Weres actions and thoughts." So fucking exasperating.

"Maybe we could eliminate your ability to see and hear in the hope that Audite compensates. You still cannot detect me by smell?"

"I know your scent, but it's not strong and I can't determine anything from it."

"Hmm. Maybe you can, but you don't know you're relying on it."

"That's possible, but I don't think so."

"We'll stick to blindfolds and earplugs for now then. Today we can at least do the blindfold." He tore a piece of his shirt off and leaned over to tie it around my head.

"Do you think this will help?"

"I cannot think of any other options. You have used Audite to scout, to know where minds are. Light is magic and magic, as far as the book has suggested, has a mind of its own. My theory is that Audite creates a space for you to feel what is there. Stamine takes you closer to the things in it, but it requires light to guide it. Can you use your light to help focus your Audite?"

"I've only been using just enough to help the gifts along." Much of fae magic didn't require tapping into our source of light. I could knock out and burst a few balls of magic without awakening the beast.

"We have talked about this Sookie." Godric admonished me.

"I know, I know. I need to open up and get in touch with my inner self." I grumbled, still wearing the blindfold.

"You agree with me, but then here we are and you still have not reached for it. You know that you no longer have a reason to hide. If there is anything else you have suppressed, you should release it."

"Ok! I'll try right now. No more guilt trips Godric."

"Guilt trip?"

"Never mind the words. I'll do it. But I'm not wearing this blindfold right now." I tore it off and threw it on the book.

"That is fine, go ahead." Godric stood up, backing away from me. He was stock still now, waiting. I unclenched that spot in my mind I had always kept locked tight. The mental muscle eased itself open and I felt what must be my magic, tentatively 'step out' of its containment. It wandered down into my body, exploring. I could feel it knowing me again, not like it did initially where it burst from my body at Niall's provocation. Gently, I encouraged it to make its way to my hands. _Flow out._ I told it.

It was amazingly obedient, and I could feel something like tenderness coming from it. As if it had been waiting its entire life to meet me and love me. My breath hitched as it swelled further, like a massage or the warmest of blankets. _I've missed you._ It seemed to say. I was immediately overwhelmed with emotion.

"Oh Godric. Oh. It's so happy... " My head was lolled back in contentment, my other senses dead to the world. Homecoming. Never be without you. Need you. A part of me. Never leave. _Share with him_. I commanded it. It obeyed and I could feel a tendril leaving each of my hands to reach for my vampire, my family and the only father that I had ever truly known.

"Sookie…" Godric whispered. "You love me that much?" I forced myself to look up and at him. The light swirled around him, tousling his hair. _Yes, I do._ I nodded in confirmation as he started to cry blood tears. He reached his hand out like one would do if you were trying to feed a skittish animal from the palm of your hand. My magic caressed him joyfully, showing off its domestication.

"No more crying Godric. Time to practice." The tendrils released themselves of Godric, but hovered in the air in front of him before spreading out around the room, thinning and disappearing.

"Is it gone?" His hand was still in the air, as if his slightest movement had scared it away.

"No, it doesn't seem to be. It's everywhere…" I checked Audite and found that it was enhanced to an agonizing degree. I could 'see' Weres patrolling the halls several walls over. One had a size too small pair of pants on and I felt the slight overflowing of skin and fat on the waistline. He hadn't trimmed his nails or cuticles and those felt like jagged edges cutting into the space around him. They were spikey with detail, all sorts of edges sticking out into the air. I turned my Audite to Godric to truly look at him. I felt his void more than his form, with its edges blurring into the air around him.

"I don't need the blindfold. Let's go Godric." My voice was confident, and I felt my light assure me that it would obey. His void tensed, becoming sharp and my light felt his movement before he made it over to me. I blurred and struck his calf from where I had appeared down on the floor and behind him.

"You, were fast. And you hit me at a very weak point."

"That was very different than before. Attacking you was as easy as breathing. The magic found you and I was behind you without any thought. It was amazing. Fuck, this feels like coming home. I makes me regret ever rejecting this." I stood up and put my face in my hands, rubbing my cheeks and forehead, hoping that my brain could come up with an answer for why I'd been so foolish.

"You are stubborn. And I can see you wish to be more like a human and avoid the unpleasant savagery that encompasses your people and mine." I didn't even try to argue with him on my being stubborn. Of course I was! I wore it like a suit of armor, shoving aside the forces that would bend my life into a direction I didn't choose. Sitting down, I crossed my legs and arms, feeling contemplative. I'd been avoiding reality up until now. I had evaded my training, but that was just the tip of the iceberg. The clock on my SSS contract was ticking away. I knew that I wanted to go home eventually, yet there was a barrier in the form of who I really was. I wasn't _just_ human. And now discovering how it felt to bathe in magic, my magic, I knew that life would have to include the supernatural. Indefinitely.

"I think you're right about my stubbornness. And yeah, being human has been important to me even as I've used my fae powers. With the girls, they were the only ones who knew about my being different, and I could pretend to everyone else that I was normal and it was enough. When I first changed into my fae form, I felt taken over by emotions that human-me couldn't reconcile. And when I killed that vampire… No part of me regrets it now, even though I feel like I ought to, like a human would. I know I don't have to explain this to you, we've talked about it so many times."

"It's not too many times. We both have the right to explore our decisions and change our minds, to spend time accepting our actions and how it changes us. A part of you will always be human, as will a part of me. We both work to have our human side understand the monster within, with some success."

"I think human Sookie is coming around to fairy Sookie, mostly because I don't think human Sookie can survive without the help. But it's hard to shake that old narrative. Human Sookie likes to think she can take care of herself thank-you-very-much. She's… always wanted to be like everyone else. But now there's a feeling of _rightness_ while wielding magic, of being fae. And today, with the light, this is who I am now and I don't want to feel this conflict with my human side anymore." Godric approached me, sitting down as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

"It's not something you have to think on right this instant, Sookie. You've been making great strides in personal acceptance by being here and practicing your fae skills. Sookie, you are special, but the chasm between you and others is not as wide as it seems. Humans not understanding magic has long been a rule, along with fearing what is unknown. But if your family were to again know you, I believe they would not reject you. I do not think your brother Jason, your friend Tara, and even the shifter Sam would turn you away."

"You make it all sound so easy. But even if my family accepts me as I am, I'm not safe. My telepathy is a candle in the darkness of the supernatural world and my magic is going to be a lighthouse. And I don't think I'm nearly strong enough to defend myself. By leaving Dark City I'll be seeing the short end of a procurement stick."

"Sookie, you are stronger than you know and I don't say this as a platitude. When you are fully trained, all vampires worth their blood will fear you. Those who do not know to do so will die. And if you have to leave here before you are completely ready, I will be with you. I love you very much, as though you were my progeny, blood of my blood."

"That's lovely of you to say Godric. You're the father I always wanted, you know." My light leeched out over to him again, enfolding us. We both sighed in happiness at the sensation. I let my torso fall into his lap and he held me, purring like a cat who had found the sunniest piece of carpet in the house.

"Do you think of… leaving?" I asked him, my eyes looking up pleadingly for the answer I was hoping for.

"No. I could not meet the sun now."

"Why'd you go with me Godric? I was so selfish to ask you. I was thinking that I needed a friend and you could be it. And I wasn't going to let our future friendship and you down, even though I didn't know you and our future was only in my head. I didn't have a right to stop you."

"But you did stop me. And I don't regret being here with you. This is a better life than being a Sheriff, or anything else I've been. It took some time to enjoy living again, if you must know, but not as long as you think. If I were not curious about you as soon as we met, then nothing you said or did would have moved me from that cage. You could say I would have gone with you before you ever spoke to me." I was blushing now, switching from anxious to flattered.

"You charmer." I giggled and rolled off of him back to a sitting position.

"I am no witch who makes trinkets." He said in confusion.

"Another modern phrase old man." I quipped. "Let's get back to training."

"That's the first time I've heard you say that you want to train."

"It can't be." My embarrassment was fluttering in my chest. Was that really the first time I've ever said that? Wow. I was more stubborn than I gave myself credit for, and not in a good way.

"Vampire memory." He pointed to his head.

"First time for everything, I suppose!" The near constant smile I had on while talking to Godric morphed into a come-get-some grin as I launched myself at him, trying to take him by surprise.

It was time for work and I wasn't ready to put the book down. I'd been reading about the sad fate of Azazel and his children after asking the book to tell me about the fae clans. It decided to start with the hardest hitting information first. While the sky, water and earth fae seemed to still exist, the fire fae had become twisted versions of themselves.

After Petomene, the only other demon sister left besides Abyzou, left earth to protect her and Azazel's child, the fire fae grieved. His children, the ifrits and jinn, suffered the consequences of his mourning. Whereas the other fae had princes and queens, the ifrits and jinn were a small, leaderless and nameless group of fae that lived in the middle east. With the rise of Islam, they were chased from their home. They searched for their father and found him in Hellas, or Greece, drowning his sorrows in alcohol and carnal pleasures. The natives knew him as "Dionysus" and they routinely enjoyed his wild parties.

The ifrits and jinn resolved that the best way to be close to their father was to live like humans, taking human husbands and wives. They couldn't have known, but Azazel had already lost his mind. His hysteria seeped into the magic of his children, causing them to slowly go insane. All of the fire in the fire fae smouldered out and they were left with a wild magic fueled by the base emotions that Azazel now embodied.

In a single night the magic that Azazel exuded that induced sex and other debauchery escalated into violence. All of the humans and fae in attendance went mad and killed one another. When the fighting was over, there were only a handful of female fire fae left and no humans. Having become a person who Petomene would have despised, Azazel killed himself and sent his magic back into his children. That was the straw that broke the camel's back and the women became living embodiments of Azazel's psychosis. The fire fae, now maenads, caused the kind of mayhem and destruction that Azazel had before he died. Each of them roamed the earth delusionally looking for a way to join Azazel in death by recreating the circumstances of his demise. I hoped I never met a maenad, that's for sure.

When I arrived at the entrance to Dark City, my Were coworker was already present and waiting impatiently.

"Hi Jannalyn, ready to get started?" I chose to ignore her attitude.

"Yes." The Were curtly replied. We didn't have the best working relationship, but it was better that my inspection parter was not male or otherwise interested in knowing me. I was actually pleased that the bitch hated me enough to not give a rat's ass about anything other than how weird and arrogant she found me to be. It couldn't be helped when I would say out of nowhere that 'this person can't come in' without saying a word to the person in question. She thought I was overreacting or making my intel up and I knew she had been reprimanded by her squad leader plenty of times about disparaging me for my perceived craziness in front of others. It was funny because I'd always been right about each glamored individual, but it never seemed to matter to her. Whatever. She was a non-entity as far as I was concerned.

"I'm surprised we only had one attack on the base above. You know?" I tried to make small talk with the Were-bitch, hoping to distract her from her sulking hatred of me. Today she was mad because she had filed paperwork to no longer inspect with me, asking that either I or she be removed. Richard, after having a conversation with me on the matter, didn't see fit to grant her a transfer. Mostly because there wasn't anyone who was able to put physical threats down like Jannalyn could, who was also female. Jannalyn's pride and joy was her ability to fight. I wondered what she'd think if she found out that this was the reason she was assigned to me.

After she said nothing I continued, "You know, I understand you don't like me or think I should be here. And I am sure you're wondering why you weren't transferred as you requested." I waited for her response, watching her jaw clench with agitation. Though she said nothing, her thoughts indicated she was as curious as she could be through her anger.

"You weren't transferred because we're both good at this job together and I don't want to get to know anyone else."

"Yeah? And who did you blow that your opinion matters so much?" This was the crux of it right here; I had control over her job, she knew it and resented it. There was no changing that.

"I don't care if you hate me. Dislike me until the cows come home wolf, but don't be an unmanageable shit with me or I will see to it that you _are_ reassigned somewhere more fitting for your attitude." This conversation was going poorly. I had intended to make nice and instead I'd threatened her. Sometimes my fae nature gave rise to quick anger.

"Fine." She said, and I felt from her mind a sense of relief.

Oh. Crap, that's right. She's a Were and Weres have pecking orders. I almost laughed out loud in her face. The entire time I'd been trying to relate to her as a human whereas she was more wolfy and either wanted to be the alpha or to know her place. Totally silly that giving her a piece of my mind was all it took to make things easier. Wolves were almost as bad as vampires about needing to be the most badass creatures in the room.

The first shipment we inspected contained several listening devices which I quickly pulsed magic into to destroy them. Otherwise, Jannalyn sniffed out some C-4 that didn't belong and set it aside. Up next was the delivery of new staff. The entrance to Dark City was a steep tunnel with a lift that would travel up and down. From the top down, the lift would pass through several layers of zapper chains before reaching a solid metal door that was comprised of sandwiched silver, copper, iron and steel. Upon reaching that door, it would be opened by myself and the delivery lift would move forward to meet another door made of the same materials as the first. When the first door was completely locked, only then would the second door open and the lift make its way to Jannalyn and me.

We were both looking carefully at the handcuffed and blindfolded Were that sat in the lift. He passed Jannalyn's inspection, but not with flying colors. The Were-bitch was mighty suspicious of him, which didn't bode well for my examination. I rubbed my forehead, already feeling disappointed. When I checked his head to see if he was glamored, his mind was in tatters. It was like the vampire removed the poor man's entire personality. The Were could still shift, I saw, but I thought it a wonder he could even do that, much less walk and talk, his brain was so corroded. This situation had been more frequent as of late.

I pressed my badge to the security check and pressed the button to send the Were back up and out. When the platform started moving, he started to stand up though he was supposed to be chained to his seat. I watched the handcuffs slip off of him and noted the glimmer and spasms of a Were who was about to shift. Jannalyn launched herself at the him, knife in hand. It slammed into his jugular just as his body began to shrink and turn fury. Blood coated Jannalyn's face as she was hit with arterial spray. I got a sprinkle of blood as well, closing my eyes quickly to avoid the fluid contact. I turned and stopped the lift from rising any further.

Each time we worked the lift we had to decontaminate after. We almost always were on the receiving end of blood spray these days. There was a real concern about viruses and bacteria. Fortunately the vampires' tactics were much like a hammer in nature. They hadn't figured out yet that they would have had better luck sending someone who was infected with something deadly than getting anyone through with obvious glamor, but they just kept on tryin' the same old thing. We quarantine all new staff anyway just in case the day came where vampires did figure out a strategy that included the spread of disease. I was a little upset with Jannalyn that I'd been sprayed with blood, but I knew selfishly that at least I wouldn't get infected with anything the Were might have had. Fairy blood was good for a lot of things, including that.

"Next?" Jannalyn wiped her hands on the back of her uniform before meeting my blank stare with a smirk.

"Yeah, next." I radioed up to the base and asked to speak to the commander on duty privately. We hopped on the hardwired phone and I told him what happened with the Were. Specifically that he hadn't been properly secured. He held the phone away from him and I heard his muffled words directing the soldier in question to be detained. It was sad, because it probably wasn't the soldier's fault. Glamor overrode all sense of duty.

It took an extra 20 minutes for the base above us to clean and sanitize the lift. We always budgeted an extra hour for just these occasions. Out of the next 17 soldiers, only 2 were acceptable. There were 2 other un-glamored Weres that weren't trustworthy or mentally stable in their own right. Some of the glamors on the other Weres were old, but I didn't trust that they were present for reasons other than to infiltrate Dark City. It was inevitable that many of the Weres had worked for vampires at one point or another and were on the receiving end of glamor. I had already decided I would need to pay Richard a visit to discuss alternative strategies regarding recruitment, amongst other things.

Our decontamination went well, as it always did for me. Only Jannalyn had to receive several shots and a round of antibiotics because of the bodily fluid contact. I worried for the day when the Were might constantly be on medication to protect her from whatever the recruits might be carrying. Another thing to discuss with the good Dr. Lingon.

Heading to Richard's office was an adventure in its own right. I so rarely interacted with anyone outside of Godric, Jannalyn and Richard that the other residents of Dark City would openly stare and project their thoughts loudly. It was fun being the enigma that was Stephanie Anderson. Richard's office was near all the other bureaucrats of the city. I knew he had trouble getting along with them because of the nature of his position. The branches of government in here and out in the nation abroad had little understanding of the supernatural, and they were finding themselves uncomfortably dependent on the SSS for guidance. The SSS was supposed to provide explanations and support to the other parts of government and instead it was forced by circumstance to supplant the majority of decisions that were normally made by other parties.

I'd been evaluating the political climate inside Dark City in case Godric and I needed to book it out of here. It wasn't bad yet, but Dark City's newly intended purpose of representing specific government decisions regarding the supernatural had been called into question by Congress. The representatives in the Senate and House were either selfishly aligned with whatever ensured their reelection, or glamored, as far as I could tell. After the excitement of vampires coming out had worn off, the extremism of religious bodies such as the FoTS had pulled political pundits towards the reactionary policies currently being proposed. These restrictive laws on vampire activities indicated a denial of how deep vampire influence in corporations and politics went, and pretending otherwise would be humanity's undoing. Forcing vampires back into the darkness would only increase human death tolls, I believed. I also knew beyond a doubt that humans would not be able to police vampires effectively.

I thought back to the Formae that Findabair had worked on humans to influence them to fear creatures of the night and wondered if it was still working as strongly as it had when it was made. Findabair had been the last fae to be able to work a Formae and it was weak compared to other Formae that had been done in the past.

All of this made me hope that Richard had some answers on whether Dark City would implode, or if it was a question of 'when', not 'if'. If the city fell, the vampires would clean us out. It was in their nature to eliminate or subjugate their enemies and weaker creatures, even amongst their own kind. No, the leaders of the city would not be allowed to live for daring to stand against the vampire Authority.

"Richard?" I knocked quietly and then peeked around the slightly open door.

"Yes, Stephanie come in, come in." He was stressed, clearly. The papers strewn across his desk reflected the erratic and piercing thoughts that he was broadcasting. I pulled up my shields and gave him the courtesy of waiting for him to tell me what was wrong.

"So." I stayed standing, leaning up against the back wall with my arms crossed.

"Yes, yes. Um, you're here to talk about things, I suppose. Yes." He didn't make eye contact as he scurried around collecting a few papers here and there before taking a seat. I followed his lead and took the open chair in front of his desk.

He continued, "Why don't you address your concerns first and I'll gather my thoughts as you go along."

"Ok, first things first, we're getting too many glamored Weres. I think we need to stop recruiting directly and instead compile a large group of Weres who are ready to leave at a moment's notice. We then draft randomly and take them that day to Dark City. I'm sure you heard about Jannalyn's necessary actions today and the fact that we spent hours doing intake only to accept 2 soldiers."

"I will bring up this idea, but it is not within my purview." Richard sucked in his breath uneasily. Even if this was a rational solution, I knew he'd have a difficult time selling it to the military commanders here. They were sick and tired of hearing what the know-it-all SSS director of Dark City had to say, even if he was right.

"I assumed that was the case. How long do we have before our house of cards collapses here?"

"A year, maybe less. I had hopes… about what this would mean for humanity, you know." The lack of sleep, the disdain that I knew Richard faced from his peers in Dark City and the ever-increasing pressure from outside influence had marred his face and body. Pale, sallow skin and sunken eyes had taken over the formally confident and sharp Dr. A pang of sympathy rolled through me and I forgot momentarily about some of the more cutting memories I had of Richard.

"Egil and I, we can take you out of here when that time comes."

"No. No, I'll be staying until the end." His fingers twiddled with the edges of some documents, his eyes focused on some distant thought.

"You may not be on my list of favorites, but I won't be letting you commit suicide. I'd get Egil to glamor you first."

"Respect my wishes Stephanie." Richard jerked his face towards mine and bitterly spat.

"Since when have I ever done that." My smile was intended to be conspiring, but I probably looked more self-satisfied than anything.

"My dream was to elevate humans to equal status with the Supes. I wanted the Weres, fae and witches to mainstream, adding less bloodthirsty creatures to the mix. The dream was much too big and it's possible that it was not the right time, that I was born at an unfavorable juncture." Watching Richard wax philosophical was dismaying.

"You can't be too hard on yourself about this. It's all out of your control. I know how much you hate not having sway or power over these things, but you are a much better person and leader when you don't have the reigns all the time. It makes you think before you act instead of reacting." It was a soapbox style pitch, but I hope he saw that it came from authentic concern for his wellbeing.

"Were you anyone else, I would not allow such criticism." He was mustering the vestiges of Richard-from-before. He continued, "Make yourself ready to leave at a moment's notice. You have been training?"

"Yes." I was still very reluctant to discuss my skills with Richard. Godric agreed that Richard had a natural tendency to use people like tools. It made him effective at getting results, but not many people liked him. All he had was his career and goals.

"Good. Good. Have you talked to Egil about whether he would talk to me about himself?" I had, and Godric agreed that he would tell Richard about himself when we left, not allowing the man to trade on Godric's clout in the vampire world.

"He said he would talk to you before we leave. Whenever that is." Richard swallowed, and looked regretful. He wasn't trusted and he knew it.

"The offer still stands if you want to borrow my books." Each time I entered his office, I felt the magic emanating from them. Some more so than others.

"May I take them if I leave and you choose to stay?" I saw his shoulders sink before he replied. He was realizing that he'd have to part with his collection of books that represented a large portion of his self identity.

"Yes. Take care of them?"

"Of course. Do you have anyone outside that you want me to speak to after…?"

"My grandmother. She lives in Colorado and will be the sole recipient of my estate. She has refused my money while I've been alive, but she'll be seeing it when I die. She raised me, you know." His gaze was wistful, and I could hear he was thinking about the better times of his past. That he always wanted to make her proud. I changed the subject before either he or I, or both, started crying.

"What's this I hear about the city accepting prisoners that will be euthanized at the end of interrogation? I'm assuming I'll be working closely with this, but I have yet to hear the details."

"You found out from other's thoughts, I suspect." He looked to me for confirmation. I nodded and he went on, "Yes. You'll be heading it up," I interrupted with a snort. He waved his hand at me and continued, "I know, they restricted me from telling you. The request was to go out tomorrow. Now, you'll be trying to get what information you can from the glamored. I've been meaning to ask you, can you strip glamor or otherwise see around it?"

"I tried once when I was working with the team. It caused the Were to bleed out of his ears, nose and eyes. I could tell I was hurting him pretty badly."

"These prisoners will all be leaving in body bags, without exception. Are you willing to try again?" Torture was to be avoided, because in my experience it had never been effective at getting anyone to think about the things I wanted them to think about. Torturing as a result of stripping glamor might be a different story.

"Can we use anesthetics to numb the pain? I think it will help with the process."

"If that's what's necessary."

"Ok, I want to discuss this with Egil. But even if I agree to do it, if it becomes too much of a mental burden I will quit. How will you keep the other people working with me from knowing what it is that I do?"

"Fine. As for privacy, only you and I will be in the room and there will be no observation." He flicked his hand in quick agreement on my terms and conditions.

"How'd you score that one?" I laughed.

"I told them that your abilities were classified and they could either have their confession with respect to your privacy or not at all. I'm sure they'll try to circumvent our wishes by bugging the room or placing cameras there, but I'm counting on you to find and destroy those."

"Yep, can do. When does this start?"

"Next week."

"That was fast. Anything else then?" His fingers tapped his desk, the international signal that Richard was debating on telling me something.

"Well. I wanted to say that I know you're not a regular fae hybrid. You may be 1/8th fae, but I know enough to tell that some of the abilities you have are the mark of nobility. If you don't know your ancestry, I suggest trying to make contact with your family. Hybrids are often not accepted, but you may be."

"I know my family, Richard. And that is all you need to be aware of." I tried not to growl at him, but it came out with a little snarl. I must have looked sheepish because he comforted me with his next words.

"Don't worry, I know fae are extremely protective of their family. It's not Stephanie who is reacting the way you are about my question." He paused for a moment, "I've always loved your kind. Ungodly powerful, graceful and ferocious in battle. If your people had mainstreamed first, things might be different today. Fairies would go over well with humans. But I suppose it is the unattainable aspect of your species that excites me. Your people are hard to know. Not like vampires."

"In some ways we are much like them. Our people are intertwined, though it's hard to see how from the outside. I can tell you from the get go that we've never gotten along with them. I also think our lagging or rejection of mainstreaming has a lot to do with how we think about ourselves compared to other Supes and humans. We believe that we're superior in all ways." Richard's eyes were locked on me as I spoke, and I could hear his mind twitching to take notes.

"Sorry Dr. Lingon, I can't comment on anymore. Some of what I know would be dangerous if vampires found out."

"But Egil knows, doesn't he." He said sullenly, looking once again like the exhausted and desperate man he was.

"Egil is _mine._ " I uncrossed my arms and hissed at Richard. How dare he doubt Godric when my vampire had been nothing but well behaved and trustworthy.

"And are you his?" The subtext was that if Godric had blood influence over me, I was no longer reliable or trustworthy.

"He is my family. Like Amelia and Gladiola. And you're an idiot. If we had exchanged blood the Weres would know. Not even I can suppress that scent. Now unless you have more to add, I am leaving." He hadn't known about my ability to cloak, but if he had thought about all the times I had never been approached by fae when I was completing my missions he would have realized I could. I stalked out of his door, determined to reach my room without interacting with anyone.

I felt a hand on my arm and I almost reverted to my military and fae training. Instead I turned to give the offender a piece of my mind.

"I could have broken your arm in three different places." Wrenching myself free from the Were who stood in front of me, I threw him a glare hot enough to cook an entire breakfast.

"Whoa, hey. I was only trying to get your attention!" He was well muscled and handsome with his olive skin, black hair and green eyes.

"My name is David." He stuck out his hand to shake mine. I looked down at it, then back up at him, disdain emanating from me. It didn't take long for him to drop it back to his side.

"Vampire manners, ok. I was wondering if you would like to get dinner sometime."

"I don't date or fuck." I said in a flat voice.

"Maybe you haven't met the right guy." He took a step closer to me, invading my personal space. The fae in me was straining to show him who was boss, while Sookie was chastising me for not being polite. I went with the human solution instead of hissing and spitting at him.

"It was sweet of you to ask, but I am not interested."

"You know I've seen you around, but I know you don't live with all of us. Why don't you come hang out sometime. No date or anything."

"Look mister, I said I wasn't interested and I'm gonna need you to respect that. Got it?"

"I guess Jannalyn is right. You're a total stuck up bitch." His attitude turned on a dime and he looked like he wanted to assault me. His thoughts confirmed that he wanted to grab me and frighten me into taking him seriously.

"Touch me and suffer, Were. I outrank you and I can take you apart faster than you can change." I kept my Velum, but shifted underneath it to a partial fae form. The fae in me was physically stronger than humans and Were by far. Not quite vampire-quality, but I didn't need that today. I knew before his fist was raised and arm pulled back that he was about to clock me. My hand moved up automatically to catch his fist dead on. Reinforcing my palm with my magic, I heard his knuckles crunch sickeningly upon impact.

"Fuck! What the fuck!" The Were clutched his broken hand and eyed me with fear.

"That's right. I out-alpha you. Make sure to tell your pack of puppies to stay the fuck away from me. Stopping fists isn't the only thing I'm capable of doing to all of you."

"Jesus Christ what the fuck are you? You don't even smell like a goddamn thing."

"Wouldn't you like to know." I practically ran from him, wanting to reach my secure hallway before David was able to alert the other Weres. Letting my fae nature get the best of me could have just screwed me. It took me all of a second after I destroyed his hand to remember that wolves come in packs. They might be waiting for me in the halls now, looking for an opportunity to pay back the damage. My nervousness preceded me and Godric was on his feet as I entered the room.

"I think I fucked up."

"I smell Were. What happened?" I hadn't integrated the Were's scent into my cloaking yet, I was so anxious.

"I was accosted and I broke his hand when he tried to hit me. He was flirting with me, looking to date and I told him no several times."

"And I suppose now you are worried about retribution?"

"Yeah. See, human Sookie would have handled that differently. She would've calmed him down and placated his ego. Fae Sookie took a swipe at him without a second thought. I can't do something like that whenever I feel the need to be dominant."

"Nothing to be done now but to call Richard."

"I just got done talking to him." I groaned in dismay. I picked up the phone anyway. The call rang to his voicemail and I left a message about what had happened.

"We'll just have to see then."

"Indeed." Godric didn't look nearly as perturbed as I.

I'd finished another section of the book regarding the fae clans. The earth fae, or Fomorians, were not as distinguished a people as the water or air fae. Lamech and Methusael defied Elatha, the first of their kind, to mate only with humans which crops up today in the form of natural witches. Nuada and Tuireann followed in Elatha's footsteps by intermarrying into the water fae. There were no pure earth fae left and no separate royal lines, or nobility, but the idea of earth fae living on in humans was neat. I'd have to tell Amelia she could be fae. She'd like that.

It had been a week since the Were incident and Richard had halted incoming supplies and personnel in an attempt to let tempers cool before I got back to work with Jannalyn. Today I was back on duty and it was the day our first prisoners would come in. I would be working with Jannalyn to inspect them before they would find themselves locked tight in an interrogation room. There was a backlog of supplies and personnel that were waiting to be sent down here, so it'd be some time before we'd reach the prisoners. I was apprehensive about working with the Were. It was certain that the entire Were population knew I hadn't been disciplined. David had been taken aside and given a firm talking to, but that was all. Punishing him using humiliating work would have made everything worse. Packs were always on the side of the pack and an insult to one was an insult to all.

"Jannalyn."

"Stephanie." I had no guilt or hesitance today when it came to flipping through Jannalyn's thoughts.

 _I don't know why they think they can pull anything off when it comes to Stephanie. I've tried to tell them, she always knows everything. Every glamored Were and listening device. She crushed David's hand and that should have been enough for them to leave it the hell alone. They'll get themselves killed…_

Something was up, and I'd have to address it after the interrogation. I would be leaving here when the prisoners arrived to the interrogation room, but after I'd have to skulk around looking to overhear some random thoughts. The plan was that the soldiers escorting us there would show up with Richard when we got the signal from above that they were ready to send our package down.

We worked in relative silence, removing bugs, supplies for bombs and unauthorized weaponry. None of the Weres were any good this time, and I got a whiff of Jannalyn's agitation at turning them all away. This was bad. We'd never had a batch of all glamored Weres, but here we were rejecting each recruit because they'd been freshly glamored. I assumed the vampires had decided to starve us out of personnel.

"Ok, I'm signaling Dr. Lingon. I'll need you to have your gun out. You'll be shooting to kill if things get out of hand, understood?"

"Yes." She checked her pistol, ensuring she had enough rounds and that the safety was off. I heard the footfalls of the guards behind us. When I shifted around to look at them, I saw that there was an extra member to the party. He was Brigadier General Hodges and he was also Richard's most ardent enemy. I saluted the BGen, steeling myself for the incoming barrage of demands he always brought with him. Richard looked at me desperately.

 _Stephanie, I hope you can hear me. Hodges is going to demand that you explain yourself to him. He managed to get permission to declassify what you are. When you broke David's hand, he filed a motion to consider you a weapon, which puts you under his thumb. You're no longer under my supervision and you will report to Hodges directly. He doesn't know about Egil, and he's planning on moving you to the main barracks. I have a way for you to get out, but it must be tonight._

"Anderson, you and I will speak privately after we secure the cargo."

"Yes sir." I heard the lift rumbling down to us and I tried not to panic. If they found Godric, they'd stake him. They couldn't smell Godric on me because of my scent cloaking, but I sure as shit couldn't cover the vampire smell of our rooms. I decided to carefully address my former supervisor.

"Richard, I'll be taking you up on your offer to borrow that book tonight."

"You will do nothing of the sort tonight Anderson." Hodges said smoothly, revelling in his control. I felt the fae rise inside of me and I tried pushing back on the rage it inspired. No fae liked being told what to do and my royal heritage specifically took offense to it.

The prisoners had finally arrived and I had managed to keep my silence, content that I had signaled to Richard that I would make contact later. My magic was rumbling within me, wanting to give everyone a piece of its mind. When the two Weres that were chained to the lift had been secured by the guards, we left Jannalyn behind to finish cleanup. I walked behind the prisoners but in front of the repugnant BGen, who was currently considering how he was going to use whatever powers I had to usurp Richard's command of Dark City. He had always believed the city should have been run by the military and not some goon with a PhD and a secret weapon.

If that's what he thought, he had another thing coming.


	20. Chapter 20

Thanks for the beta Suzy Meinen. I say it every time and I'll say it again; thank you for the reviews! When you guys wonder about something, I always want to answer that question. There's been some hate on Willa, so of course she's going to get the smack laid down on her. Incentives to read and review. :)

I gently drew my Audite over the Weres' minds. It was a kaleidoscope of glamor, almost beautiful in its intricacy. The best way I can describe it was that it looked like traditional ratatouille; delicately layered slices of glamor that relied on each other to maintain the structural integrity of the implanted memories. Pull one glamor out and it might collapse the whole mind. Could I even strip glamor? The book had indicated that Audite was capable of rewriting a personality, and even mind control.

It was a catch-22. It was my job to evaluate and get to the bottom of the vampire's plans when I read minds, protecting Dark City and beyond of the machinations of the Authority. But if I did so, Hodges might expose me knowingly or unknowingly which would verify the existence of a fairy in the city. Only noble fae had Audite, so it'd be clear to Niall and other supes who knew better that I, or someone like me, was here. I wasn't being arrogant in thinking that the efforts to get inside the city then would quadruple. If I didn't help though, I knew it was a guarantee that the city would fall and everyone in here would die. I'd have to try and explain to Hodges that I couldn't tell him what I was. That it was a choice between satiating his curiosity and probably engineering the death of everyone, or not telling him and keeping us all alive for longer.

At least Richard had been sent back to be sequestered in his quarters. If I had to leave, I could grab Godric and Richard and apparate around the base with them until we had a sure way out.

"Do whatever it is you do Anderson, and then you'll be telling me after what it is."

"If you don't mind, I'd like to talk now about that."

"No. We'll be sticking with the schedule as is."

"Then I must insist."

"Then you can spend your time in the brig until you follow orders." He reached for me and I stepped back to avoid him.

I continued quickly, "you couldn't take me there if you tried. And keeping me there? Ha. When I got out, and I would, I'd be coming for you." I glowered at him, daring the man to make good on his threat. Hodges stood still, arms now folded across his chest and his lips in a thin line. He looked like a menacing and badass commander, but his thoughts told me he was legitimately frightened of what I might be capable of. Not that he acknowledged his fright. It was only subconsciously that his fear was driving him.

"Look buddy. Talk to me. You want to have a good working relationship, don't you? If that's what you want, you have to respect my needs here." Said Sookie the human. I was going to tell him and damn the catch-22. If he indicated he was going to betray me, I'd let the fae take over and do what she does.

"You have 3 minutes."

"It'll take longer than that, and not in front of the Weres."

"Clock is ticking, and they won't be making it out alive anyway."

"Fine. I don't want to tell you what I am because I don't trust you to be able to keep it to yourself, which is what you must do. There is a reason that Richard was the only one who knew. I'm not worried about you being captured by vampires, yet, but if you tell anyone outside of yourself you'll put the SSS in jeopardy. A great many people _will_ die."

"There is such a thing as a chain of command. I am to report all information on you so that it can be added to your file." What he said sounded reasonable to him. His thoughts were straightforward; follow protocol.

"Yeah? And how do you know your boss isn't glamored. Or his secretary. Or every single person in his unit. If this is written down, the SSS goes down with it. I'm serious."

"The SSS will never rely on a single human being to ensure its existence. The very idea is preposterous. Out with it!"

"Do you think I like the idea that a single person has to be responsible for Dark City? Not to mention keeping the SSS from drowning in vampire influence. You don't get it. I can't walk away from here, because if I do, the entire ship sinks! Look. Humans in general know about vampires. The military is well aware of Weres, given that they make up a good portion of your soldiers. Humans are vaguely aware of fae and demons, but not much is known about them even at an academic level _for a reason._ Richard's PhD was in fae and he only got as far as to understand nixes and pixies! You may be in charge and in the military, but you don't know what's out there. So yes, in this case, I am the sole person you have to trust to keep the gears turning!"

"Your time is up. Tell me what you can do or I will assume you're a supe and have my soldiers just on the other side of this wall toss a zapper net on you." He wasn't budging and I knew he had stopped listening after the first sentence of my tirade. Ugh. I could escape, yes, and not have to tell him. But I was still attached to saving the city. As soon as Richard, Godric and I left, it would fall. Give it a week.

If I apparated out of this room now, Hodges would look for me and the city would be on high alert. It was prudent to wait until I was done questioning the Weres and look for an opportunity to get 10-20 uninterrupted minutes to snag Godric and Richard before we made our escape. Godric was going to have to glamor Hodges or something. I was going to drag Richard out by his ear, despite his stupid plans to go down with the ship. Here goes nothing.

"I'm part fae, but my blood is noble. I can read the minds of humans and Weres. And I have a little extra strength. And there are other things we can discuss later."

 _Incredible. Plans latter. Don't think about it, she'll know. Interrogate the Weres. Yes._

"You need to tell me what you plan to do now. If you don't, I won't be helping you." I demanded of him, not liking the flavor of his thoughts at all.

"The only thing you will know is that Richard's life will be at stake should you not cooperate. If you have other skills, I will know about those as well." His eyes were alight with satisfaction.

 _Look afraid Sookie. Don't give him even a slight suspicion I can circumvent him, or he might decide to take action now._ I gave him a false look of trepidation.

"I don't have any other important abilities and I will do my best with the Weres." I turned away from him, not wanting him to see my fae side leak out a smirk. Under threat, my brain decided to work a lot better. Options were spinning in my head now. I could use Velum to pretend to be someone else to bust Richard out, without using Stamine. Godric could glamor everyone. The last concern would be how to get out once I had everyone together. I know Richard wouldn't want to go, but I'd thought about how he was a liability to me now. If vampires got in and compelled everyone to talk, they'd find out about me through him. I had to get a lock down on Hodges too, before he communicated to anyone else about me.

I caressed the first Were's thoughts again. They were both here because they were captured during a drug bust. The drug was V, which was vampire blood. Not only did it make humans and Weres high, it gave them extra strength and aggression. When the blood was not taken from the source, it didn't bond the user to the vampire which meant it cost very little for vampires to distribute. This bust had been valued in the millions and was cause for celebration for the SSS and the local branch of the FBI where it occurred. Though the Were's mind wasn't indicating it, I knew that nothing like that would have ever gotten past the vampires unless they wanted it to. It must be a setup. In order to accumulate that much vampire blood in one place, you'd have to be a monarch. And monarchs didn't keep their crowns if they didn't know about that much V in one place.

Instead of trying to pull out the glamor right off the bat, I opted to dive into each one and live out the narrative as described by the vampire. The glamors were all similar but slightly different, which meant they were conflicting with one another. Because each slice of glamor supported another, and so on, no one glamor had the advantage over the others. If I pulled a single piece out, the house would come down. And if it did, who knew what was under there. Hodges was still standing behind me, waiting.

"Do you have anything?"

"This takes time."

"Read his mind, it's that simple." He snorted. Sighing, I faced him.

"Look. They're so glamored that I'm pretty sure I'll drive them insane if I try to take it apart to find out the truth. I think these guys are worthless and they should be put down for their own sake."

"Don't lie to me and say there's nothing you can do to get what we need out of them." He was again thinking that I had a great deal more skill than I was letting on. Not that he was wrong, but I was telling him the truth in this case. He wasn't going to let it go though, I could hear that much.

"I can tell you that they're here to spy and report back to the vampires above." The BGen scoffed again.

"They're not going anywhere."

"Not true. They will be. In body bags. Vampires don't care if they live, only that they get the information required."

"But it wasn't even their mission to be here. It was a V bust and they were detained as prisoners. They've never been left out of sight to be glamored into spying on us here, I was assured of that fact."

"It was a setup. The whole operation was a ruse to allow for the first prisoners brought here to be _these_ Weres. It had to be a lot of blood so that you would take their capture seriously enough to bring them here."

"So we've been had." I watched his face as we spoke. He wasn't a bad man. Just wrapped up in his own authority. Underneath it he didn't want anything to happen to the SSS or the government overall. He didn't hate vampires either, but could see that they were a threat. It was nigh incomprehensible to him that the system as he knew it couldn't be applied to those with fangs. Humans and Weres were arrested for criminal actions, and to Hodges, there was no reason why that couldn't work for vampires.

The truth was, that most everyone outside of the SSS was woefully undereducated regarding vampire behavior and laws. This was intentionally orchestrated by the Authority. In the time I'd been with the SSS, I'd learned everything I could possibly know about vampires. Godric had filled in the blanks. Most people didn't understand how deep the rabbit hole went. Once a person was involved in vampire business, they were never not involved. These people were bound by threats, bonds, leverage and sometimes love to not betray vampires. And if they did, they were taken out before anything damaging was done or said. These were things that we'd been trying to tell the military and the rest of the government. The things that people like Hodges did not take seriously. Vampires lived a culture of violence and mistrust that bred ruthless punishments. But these actions of cruelty were truly the only way vampires learned to behave when they were young. The call to feed was too strong for newborns to reform after a slap on the wrist.

"Yes. But that's how it's always been."

"Vampires only came out in the past decade." He protested weakly.

"But they've existed for several thousand years. They've always been careful to place themselves in leadership positions or next to leaders. It's their way. They're more obsessed with power than ten CEOs combined. They have had hundreds of years to design a victorious outcome for every scenario and they can afford to wait for the right time to put their plan in motion." The erratic spikes of his thoughts told me he was listening this time, even if he hadn't determined what his opinion would be.

"They're the highest tier of predator and anything that runs or hides from them is chased down. That includes this city and the people in it. It's not even that they think we're capable of circumventing their authority, no." I chortled, "it's only that we dared defy them by making attempts to do so! I know that it's unbelievable to them that we've managed to keep them out for so long. And now… now, you let their operatives in." I was laughing now. It was utterly ridiculous. The whole thing. Looking back I have no idea why I agreed to Richard's proposal to move into this death trap. It was never meant to last.

"We will incinerate their bodies." I couldn't believe that was all he had to say on the matter. Yes, his mind was racing with the prospect of some hard decisions having to be made, but he was also high enough up in the army that he wasn't a BGen for nothing. It seemed sensible to expect him to be quicker on the uptake.

"See that you do. And keep me out of your reports, or this whole thing goes down in flames."

"That can't be done. The rules are there to protect us as an organization." Hodges was on the defensive now, throwing out a typical line about how things had always been done. He was like a brick wall.

"You're not understanding that you can't fight fair with them. Vampires don't punish each other by sending their criminals to a jail for time out. They silver them, after being tortured mind you, and throw them in a coffin for a decade. And that's only if they choose not to stake them. Vampires play the game with their lives on the line and you think that they'll play nice and not utilize every document to their advantage? Have you met a vampire? They will kill everyone in this place, but not before ensuring everyone suffers excruciating pain for their defiance."

"We have silver, wooden core bullets, zapper nets, colloidal spray. Even if they get inside they will never get out. I think you underestimate the planning that went into keeping the city safe."

"Oh, and so they won't have Weres or human troops? And somehow, you seem to think that if a vampire gets in he'll come out with guns blazing. No, he or she would only have to glamor a few of our personnel to turn on you. That's all it would take. Why are you resisting the facts? I don't understand what you hope to gain by sticking with your plan. I am begging you, do not tell anyone about my skills and stop sending prisoners down here. It's going to jeopardize us all."

I had pushed it too far. Hodges face was a ripe tomato, taut with anger over my accusations that he didn't have a grasp on reality. The man had years of experience in the military and had seen a decade of harsh combat in operation Desert Storm and the Iraq war. When it came to balancing lives against what needed to be done, he'd accomplished it many times. Accepting the loss of a few troops to save the whole. Enforcing strict discipline with his soldiers, resulting in an ironclad unit that obeyed without hesitation or question. A force to be reckoned with. That was what it took to be a good commander, he believed. He wasn't wrong about that. It just went against what he knew that a single person could hold the fate of many others. He also found it unreasonable that he and his troops could not fight off vampires. Many of his Weres had experience with the undead, and though it'd be a difficult battle he was again comfortable with a few losses. Including me.

"Take her back to her room and remove her badge." He had knocked on the door loudly, prompting a few guards to come out and await his order. Upon hearing him, they acted out his request, seizing my badge and grabbing my elbows to escort me out. I didn't bother to protest, letting the walk back to my quarters serve as time to evaluate my position.

The human in me too loathed the idea that a single supernatural creature could have more power than twenty humans combined. That supes were neither bound by our laws, nor could they be. Humans had always considered themselves on even territory with one another. A man could only be so strong and only hold so many guns or knives. The revelation of vampires tore the band-aid off; we were not the end-all, be-all of the food chain. And we were the sole food for an entire species that superseded our number one spot as apex predator. This was the root that Hodges and so many other humans like him denied the truth of. We didn't have the right amount of appreciation for living in this new world; we only had fear and the increasingly untenable belief that we were still top dog.

This wasn't an argument to acquiesce to vampires and let them rule. On the contrary, I thought we needed to walk right up to that table and talk to the Authority about how we could help the vampires and thus help ourselves. The donor program wasn't enough.

I was shuffled roughly down the hallway and I stumbled a few times from being pushed forward too hard or turned around a corner sharply. The thoughts my escorts had were unflattering and also threatening. As soon as I had left the interrogation room, I decided for sure that I was leaving tonight. Both of the Weres walking me had no idea about my telepathy, for which I was thankful.

 _This is it. I'm calling David as soon as we drop her off and then he can have some uninterrupted time with Anderson._

I stopped myself from laughing wildly at the Were's thoughts while I was still being escorted by them. Whether I killed David or not was a question for Godric. We reached the security door that led to my private hallway. They used my badge to open it, letting me go. I rubbed my elbows and started to walk into the hall. I felt the impact of a foot on my tailbone and I was pitched forward. The instinct to kill them was almost unbearable. Slowly raising myself off the ground, I struggled to gain control over my anger. Both of them were guffawing heartily.

"Oh is the little Stephanie hurt? Did she fall and get a boo boo?" The Were who had thought about David's plan to get me alone taunted.

"Not as bad of a boo boo as a crushed hand. How's David by the way?" I had gotten up and was facing the Were with a nasty smile. Fear flickered in his eyes and he quickly shut the door, taking time to peek through the window to give me a sneer.

"Fuck." I ran to Godric's room first, using my thumb print on the door. He was already standing as I rushed over to hug him.

"Tell me. I heard them push you to the floor. I will kill them." He was pacing in his room, his eyes taking on that dark sclera angry vampires do.

I gave him the rundown on what had happened, what we needed to do and how much time we may or may not have given David's plans for me. He calmed down as he realized we would be taking care of the matter.

"I will never let anyone harm you. Can you take me with you using Stamine?" I wiped the tears that were already forming in my eyes at how much he cared and how thinking of David reminded me of the situation with king Robert.

"I think so. Let me try now." I grabbed hold of him and willed us to be in my room. He was there with me when I opened my eyes and I couldn't hold back anymore. He held me as I sobbed. It all had to end someday. This place wasn't permanent. Though I knew no one here besides Godric and Richard, I cried over the change that was about to happen and how cruel some people could be. I didn't know where I'd go and I wasn't going anywhere without Godric. Maybe I should go home. But then I thought of Eric. My vampire was more powerful than him, but that didn't mean I wouldn't be a point of contention between the two vampires if I showed up back in Bon Temp.

"Stephanie… Sookie. Shh. No more tears. This is a blessing. We can both live honestly now, and reconnect with our lives."

"But what if I don't want to!" I wailed into his chest.

"Yes you do. You're only afraid, but you don't have to be. I'll be there."

"Don't leave me Godric, I need you." My voice was muffled by his clothed chest. I could feel my snot and tears soaking it and I felt gross and unhuggable. I tried to back away, but he held me tighter. He knew I was trying to escape again into my mind, away from my feelings about the future and the guilt for breaking down on him. I'd been the strong one, so I thought. The one who didn't need anyone to be there for her.

"No more pulling away, Sookie. I won't tolerate it." I snorted.

"Don't worry, you'll cave and run screaming into the night first when you find yourself knee deep in the mess I left back home."

"We all have messes. Some are mucusy." His eyes twinkled down at mine.

"And some are bloody." I hugged him harder.

"I won't leave you, but we must be going. Someone has entered the hall." I pulled away sharply and cast my mind out. It was David and a few other Weres.

"I think our cover is blown. I'll have to kill them." I whispered. They were in front of the door now.

"Good." Godric hissed and snapped out his fangs.

"Do you smell that?" The voice of a Were I didn't know said in askance.

"Vampire. There's no vampires… I can't believe it. They're hiding a vampire in here aren't they?" David was outraged and incredulous, as anyone would be.

I looked at Godric, carefully gauging his willingness to dispose of the Weres with me or at least not stop me. He nodded at me, fangs extended, waiting for the door to open. My claws and teeth were ready and I let my light out to play.

"Well maybe we should call for backup." There was some shuffling before David responded to the other Were's statement.

"Yeah. Let's do that."

 _No!_ I snatched Godric's arm and portaled us out into the hall behind the Weres. The Weres turned in slow motion, their pupils dilating in fear as I felt the air hum with the beginnings of their shift. We didn't have a millisecond of delay before our hands reached our prey. Out of the corner of my eye I watched as Godric snatched a Were from his standing position and hurled him into the wall. The Were's body sailed through the air, while I had dug one set of claws into the chest of my enemy and sought his throat with the other. The Were roared in pain and then gargled as my silver talons shredded the soft skin of his neck.

I let his body fall to the floor, keeping track of the amount of blood flowing from it. He had four minutes to live, at most, if he didn't choke on his own blood first. David ran then, attempting to shift mid lunge towards the hallway door. Godric's speed was unnecessary but beautiful as he landed on the almost-wolf's back and sunk his fangs into the spot where the spine met the head. The crunch of bone and the stifled howl of David were the last noises he would make.

When Godric's eyes met mine, I knew we were staring into a reflection of one another's monster. Instinctually our eyes then moved over to the body of the Were that Godric had tossed into the wall.

"We need him to tell us where Richard is." There wasn't an iota of gentleness as I grabbed the man by the front of his shirt's collar and hoisted him up on the wall. Still unconscious, I placed a single hand on his head and forced him to wake using Audite. His breath came in and out in two gasps as he squirmed.

"Be still." I wrapped my hand more tightly, twisting in order to shake him to complete awareness.

"What the fuck are you?! What the fuck. You killed them!" His eyes were wild and his fear was a stench that I could see Godric wrinkling his nose at.

"Yes. We did. Where is Richard?" There would be no questions of his answered.

"He's in his office, locked up, please let me go. Please." The smell of urine crept up from the floor, hitting our sensitive nostrils.

"You know we can't do that. Godric?" When I caught his eyes, I tilted my head in question at the Were. I wasn't sure if he needed to feed and I didn't want to take the chance that he was too weak to leave safely with me.

A single rough whine squeezed out when Godric's hand wrapped itself around the Were's neck and his fangs sunk in. It was a relief that he knew what I meant without having to say out loud to the Were that he was to be drained. I let go of the Were's shirt and let Godric prop him up. Never having watched him feed like this, my eyes roved over his frame. I liked watching him, his throat undulating as blood passed out of the Were's body into his.

There was no self-revulsion over their deaths when the body fell to the floor. They had sealed their fates when they decided to come down here and hurt me. Not a one of them was an innocent bystander. It disgusted me when I looked and saw the implements that had fallen out of their pockets. They had brought ropes to subdue me, a ball gag, lubricant and condoms. Staring at their dead bodies helped ease the rage within me and Godric's hands on my shoulders made it dissipate almost entirely. So calming and easy; no shields were needed to enjoy his silence.

"Do we wish to hide this?"

"Yes. Let's take their bodies to my room. I'm going to wash off." I thumbprint opened my door out of habit.

"I will wait here" Godric stooped to pick up the ball gag and I saw his face harden before he tossed it to the ground.

My shower was short, only enough to wash the blood from my body. Richard had been apt in suggesting that I be ready at a moment's notice to leave. Because of his foresight I had a duffle bag that had space for my book and a few others. Here's hoping Richard had his own bags ready to take all of his books too. Leaving any fae books here would feel wrong.

"Sookie?" Godric's voice carried a note of caution and I stepped out of the bathroom quickly.

"What's wrong?" His eyes were locked on the fae book, which was lying open on my bed. It had been closed previously.

"Did words appear when you opened it?" I continued.

"No. I did not open it. The top flipped open and the pages arranged themselves." His voice was even and I could see he was intensely curious about the book. It was an odd thing. I hadn't questioned its guidance after Gladiola explained that it was meant for fae, for me specifically. When I walked over, it was still blank, probably from Godric's eyes on it.

"Sorry. I think you'll have to turn around." The vampire's reluctance was only shown in minor body twitches. Any human who watched Godric face the wall wouldn't have been able to see his hesitation. I had to admit I'd fallen in love with the secret body language of supernatural creatures that could not be seen by humans.

The words formed themselves in front of me.

 _A noble fae brings with them the sustenance for all the magical creatures surrounding their home. First he or she must See with Ante, and the home must be attended by a royal with Vitae, the Life-blessing. Though a noble fae can maintain the Vitae after it is performed. A Innuo, or Call, can be made to the nixes, pixies and brownies to reside inside the Vitae. Ligabis will Bind lesser fae to the land or to the noble fae._

I read it outloud to Godric.

"The book must have decided that this was important, but that's a lot of information to drop at once. You'd think it would have done it sooner. I guess I am not understanding its use at the moment either."

"Maybe you can ask it how to use Ante? That might be useful now." Even if it wouldn't let Godric read the book, it did respond to his words.

 _To See is the gift of all fae. Our creatures of magic were hidden by Formae, only to be revealed by Ante, Ligabis or within the cradle of a Life-blessed forest. Ante allows us to see the underlying magic in all things. Place your hand on the page._

The book just broke the fourth wall.

 _That's crazy. I'm crazy. The book is speaking to me._

"Godric…. The book is asking me to touch it."

"It has never wished you harm. Why not try it?"

"What if it bites or explodes or something?"

"I suppose that's how we go then." His smile was apparent in his words. He wasn't taking my bait that I didn't want to relinquish what would happen next to a fae magical artifact. I sighed and placed my hand down on the book before I thought better of it.

The world blurred and I closed my eyes to block it out, but the quaking was inside of me. It reminded me of when Niall taught me to cloak, and I felt my mind rearrange itself. I opened one eye tentatively, worried about what I would see. Nothing was different about the room. I faced Godric and inhaled.

"You're ok?" He did an about-face.

"You…" I started. He was captivating. Instead of sensing his void, I could see its blackness pulling at the air around him. His body was encapsulated in it, and like a double negative picture I could see a small light in his chest. It was amazing. He had veins that I could see glinting and glimmering as his lifeforce moved leisurely throughout his body.

"You're really fucking beautiful inside Godric." My jaw was slack now, enjoying the sight of the raw magic that lived inside my vampire. I could see him watching my eyes as they bored into him, enraptured.

"You must be mistaken. I am a creature of darkness, and I continue to selfishly live because I can be near your light, not having any of my own." Magic shifted inside me and came to the forefront, prodding me to speak. It was an odd sensation as I spoke without thinking of the words.

"You have a light and I can see it. It's small and it can't move very far, but it's there flickering away. Your magic isn't embedded into your being, but it flows throughout it. You're not a creature of magic, but a creature in the throes of magic. This knowledge is in here." I tapped my chest, "it's true." The last few words did not come from me. That feeling of prodding turned into swelling sensation, and I felt pushed back by it. I was tight up against the walls of my own mind and I knew that something _else_ was in here with me.

"I've heard that the fae cannot lie." Godric's face was alight with suspicion as he watched my body stiffen and change its stance. Somehow he knew that there was another presence in me at that moment.

"We cannot. But we will manipulate the truth and can tell you what we wish you to hear."

 _Get out of me!_

"Am I speaking to Sookie right now?"

"No. We protect our own, and when you leave here she won't have the skillset to survive. We, her ancestors, will supplement this until all is learned, as we have always done for our children."

"And what are you asking in return, spirits?" I was fighting them off as best I could, but the sensation of them rolling through me was too fast to catch hold of. They had no reluctance in subverting my authority over my voice and body. It reminded me of Niall's dismissive and evasive words, and I started moving past shock into anger.

"Formae. Vitae. To bring us back to this world and reconcile our kind with yours."

"Sookie is not in control of her own destiny then?"

"It is an opportunity. There is no destiny."

"Then she can choose."

"She will save us, instinctively. It will not be an uncomfortable choice."

"I would have recommended not telling her, and letting it happen if that is the case. She is very stubborn."

"She is leaving here now. We must establish ourselves before she encounters danger. She must know we are here to fight for her when she does not know how to."

"I think this is something you should negotiate with Sookie." The entire time my supposed family had been speaking to Godric my body was shaking and sweating with exertion. I had stopped playing whack-a-mole in trying to catch and attack them. Instead I was spreading out my magic like a net, trying to ensnare whatever foreign thing was in here. When I finally caught onto it, it surprised me by merging itself with my magic.

 _I can't attack myself! I should never have touched the stupid book._

"We are the same magic. There is nothing to speak on." They replied condescendingly, as if that explained everything.

Then they were gone.

"Godric!" Wheezing, I took a step forward and he rushed in to catch me. "Never touching the stupid book again!"

"I don't think that will change anything. I think they are connected to you somehow."

"Probably not if I torch that thing!" As I whipped around to get the book, Godric and I both heard voices and footsteps outside the hall. Time to go.

"Take the book, destroy it later if you must." Godric rested his hand on my arm and looked at me expectantly.

"Fine. Book, you live for another day. I can't promise you'll be around tomorrow!" I snatched it off the bed and tucked it into my bag before we portaled to the exact location where Richard was that I had seen in the Were's mind.

***Pam***

"Willa, Eric and I stopped fucking within the first few months of my undead life. Had he introduced women to our bed sooner, it would have stopped right then." I was whispering to her in a low enough volume to keep our vampire staff from hearing.

"I know you love him Pam, and I do too. But this is different! I want him to want me, not just as a child…"

"Grow up. He doesn't feel that way and it's not a reason to destroy the relationship you have with Eric. The more you pull, the further away he goes. You must stop."

"Don't you think I know that?!" She screamed now, her voice cracking with pain. Babies. Fucking babies and their _feels_. Everyone heard her now.

"Is this what you want? Limping your way behind Eric, becoming a trivial fixture in his shadow? An annoyance and an embarrassment to our blood? No, you will begin adding value to our family. We will not allow you to amount to nothing." Still, I kept my register low, not intending to shame Eric or Willa further. Even if Willa insisted on garnering her own humiliation.

"That's not what this is about…"

"Yes it is you whiney, tunnel-visioned cunt!" I spat, my fangs slipping out as my face moved closer to my sister's. Willa's jaw fell open and she took a step back.

"Our maker is too lenient with you. His guilt blinds him. You blind him and make him weak and I will not allow it any longer! You are as useless as a pulled fang!"

"I thought you were my friend…"

"You want a friend? Buy a human, or a Were even. I don't care. But you will cease this nonsense with Eric. He does not want you." I paused, letting that settle in before continuing in a more pleasant tone, "but, it's nothing Eric's credit card can't fix."

"You're so shallow." Willa whispered. It was not something I found offensive. She would have to know what she was saying in order for her words to hit home. Buying clothes was an acceptable vice and a bonding tool that allowed me to be of service to Eric. I purchased all his clothes and had done so for Willa. And I had earned the right to my own money as well as Eric's when he rewarded me for well done tasks. There was no shame in compensation and my choice to spend it on clothing.

"Go to the bar Willa." I growled in a way that brooked no argument. Her eyes downcast, she skittered away. I vamped to Eric's office and knocked.

"Keys." He said, meaning that he had locked the door to keep Willa from bursting in. Of course he was looking at the 'fairy files'. I would never question his choices or his judgement, but I did not have to understand it. His orders would be obeyed without question. The door clicked open when I finished unlocking it.

Eric was at his desk, papers spread out in front of him.

"Any news master?" I oscillated between feigning interest in Eric's endeavors regarding the fairy to being genuinely curious as to why he had been infected with the need to find her Highness of Sparkle.

"Yes. But it's useless. My contact says that Sookie is alive and well, and becoming more fae. There have been disturbances of magic within the fae that indicate her powers are growing. How they know this, I don't know or care."

"Forgive me, how is this not good news Master?"

"They don't know where she is. She's cloaked herself and it's only the magic that connects all fae to one another that lets them know she's at least alive and shooting out signals that she's coming into her fae adulthood."

If I waited to speak, he would go into downtime, staring at the wall for hours before turning in for the day. Yet I risked punishment by changing the subject when he was in such a state. No matter; he could have his pound of flesh. This must be said.

"Master, Willa is a problem." He glared at me now, his lips starting to curl into a sneer.

"Please hear me." I walked over and supplicated by kneeling in front of him. "Master." Eric then caressed my hair.

"Pamela. Tell me what I would do without you." He smirked, pulling my face up with a single finger on my chin.

"You wouldn't." I mirrored his expression.

"I will hear what you have to say, but there will be a penalty for doing so."

"I expect nothing less." I waited to continue, and he nodded his permission to speak, "she will not accept that you cannot love her how she wishes. It is weakening your position with the other vampires as you continue to not punish or reform her behavior. The fear of you is still there, but the respect will be called into question should this continue."

"You are correct. This is something I have been thinking on as of late. I have grown lax, thinking she would fall into step like you." He was silent for some time.

"Don't worry Master, you don't have to tell me I am your favorite child." Pushing Eric's buttons was a longstanding game of ours.

"Indeed." His eyebrow arched, a stunning copy of the original artwork, me.

"I will command Willa to obey you as her maker. She is your punishment for a month. I no longer have time nor desire to discipline her." I shuddered. It was unexpected and irritating, but not the worst. I got up from my knees, keeping my eyes on Eric's.

"You are free to dispense with punishment as you see fit. Bring her to me." He continued, darkening his expression to let me know he expected me to pull no punches with my baby sister. Not that I would have. I gave him my most charming vampire smile and left to find Willa.


	21. Chapter 21

Thanks Suzy Meinen for beta'ing! Let me know what you guys think! :)

***Eric***

I was going to kill that fairy. Sookie's family or no, crushing his face in my hands was an eventuality. He was downright gleeful at Sookie's magical changes. To him, it meant that she was further away from vampires than ever and would surely choose her fae family over vampires and humans. In the very short time I had known Sookie, it was clear that this was not true. Would not be true.

She was nothing if not loyal and willing to protect her human family, as evidenced by her attempts to save her grandmother. The instant I had seen her grandmother's body on the stairs, I knew Sookie had tried to get her to safety. When Alcide took her up to her room, she fought and clawed at him with everything she had. Sookie was not to be controlled. Even when she had relented in her fighting, she had not given up. Not by a long shot. And Niall was not on good terms with her from what I had seen. It would not help Niall's case that she was without fear of the supernatural. And especially that there was no fear of our kind. There would be no bullying from him if she were as capable as Niall was indicating.

While fairies were delicious, I knew that her fairy side had nothing to do with her values or why I wanted her. There was her taste, her scent, but these were superficial things. Side benefits. It could have been circumstantial, that we were at a time and place where humans were now ready and used to us. But I considered Sookie unique in her lack of fear and her automatic affirment of us. Her nonpareil gift had prepared her to accept those different than she, like myself. She had survived the suffering that human thoughts must have caused her and, that was a trait a vampire could understand. She had also defied her community's hatred and its grip on her life and chose to live instead. We shared this trait and it had been the seed of my desire. Sookie had suffered, and it made her strong. Pam was beloved by me for her lust for life, but she did not come from a time where fighting amongst vampires was rampant. Godric and I had so many near close calls that a human would have had what humans refer to now as PTSD. We had to survive. Sookie understood, more than she knew, what it was like to live that kind of life. Always hiding.

Not all vampires were as Godric and I. I suspected the success and longevity of a vampire was contingent on whether they were suited to change and hardship without the loss of vision for the future. Sophie-Anne had been a perfect example of a vampire who had escalated and enlarged her negative qualities, which I believed was more human than vampire. It was the natural progression of a creature that had never anticipated a life beyond her human one. This made Sookie unsettling because she exposed the differences between vampires meant for immorality and those who were not, simply by being her. The anomaly of her demand to stand on equal footing with us, to deny me entry into her life because it was _hers, and_ without using violencemade her superior to most of my kind. Vampires tended to see only tradition and ritual, not the inherent truth of current events. The world left them to their old devices until it outpaced and killed them with its natural cruelty. But not Godric, not Sookie and not I. Yes, I craved her. The thorn in my heart and mind. I could not stop looking for her.

She would not have changed in that manner. I could not see power corrupting her sense of justice or boundaries. She was not to be pushed, or pulled. And it made me desire to do all that I could to find my way into her good graces. Oh and I would. She would come to me, and be mine. I am her match, her complement, as she is mine. At the very least, her best approximation. My lover. My dead heart hummed with need and fury.

 _Mine, mine, mine._

I would show her what these… feelings… had done to me. And I would have her enjoy was never too late to back down from my pursuit, but I wouldn't until I heard from her that she hated me and I could see in her eyes it was true. Her eyes would cause me to respect her decision. But I suspected that she would see my sincerity, even if I desired to brutally take out my feelings on her body. Pummeling her insides and injecting my honest lust and need into her. I'd take my time with her if she were still a virgin. It mattered not if she was or wasn't, though jealousy over what unknown men she was with now pricked me. It mattered not, only that she became mine. I would be supremely lucky to have a mate that is both human and fae. Delicate and intensely strong, able to withstand my ministrations but also yield to me. However, I would take her any way she happened to be. With her at my side I would no longer be obsessed, dismissive of my duties and reputation as I had been. There would be a sense of completion.

 _Niall._

He would not have her. Not without her choice of being with me. I knew that the prince would twist and turn his words in order to serve his purpose, whatever that may be in regards to Sookie. The fae are the one race of people that you can never expect to be straightforward. While fairies cannot lie, they are masters of manipulation. That I had not detected deceptive words from Niall on our call told me that he fully expected to win. This was the root of my desire to kill him. His arrogance, his disregard for Sookie's future, that made me desperate to eliminate him.

"Father!" Willa burst through the door and her interruption was very unwelcome.

"Why don't you love me?" Her cries were loud enough to be heard by all the supes in my bar. Angering me further than her abrupt entrance had.

"Willa I command you to obey Pam as your maker. You will proceed to the basement for your punishment."

"What have I done to deserve…"

"You will not speak!" I roared, standing up and slamming my fist onto my desk.

"I have tired of you. There was a time that I was weak and had guilt over your irrational needs. But there is a truth you must know, and that is that you are turning out to be a failure of a vampire. Your lack of independence is unflattering. You disappoint me, Willa." Pam was already leaning on the doorframe, arms crossed with an excited look on her face. Yes, it was an excellent idea to hand Willa over to Pam.

"I command you to go to the basement Willa." My child took over, leading Willa away while she sobbed. She provoked only frustration in me. I would need a new desk from my storage where I kept multiple replicas of them. Smashing them to pieces had been a more common occurrence as of late.

***Sookie***

"Richard." He looked up from his desk, eyes red rimmed with exhaustion and wide with surprise.

"You came."

"Yes. We did. Richard, this is Godric." At that, Richard raised his hand and his index finger before swiveling around in his chair to face his computer. I knew he was going to look up Godric's name to see what was in the system. His eyes were glued to the screen, flicking back and forth. Godric sighed and sat down in front of the desk while I stayed standing behind him, ready for anything that might harm the vampire, including Richard.

"Gaul. 2,000 years, no known progeny. Sheriff of an area in Texas. Deceased."

"So they say." Godric flashed his coy smile.

"Amazing." The doctor was wistful. He straightened up, seeming to remember something. "How did you get in here? You appeared, tell me how? Please?"

"It's a fae gift. We teleport, sometimes."

"I've never heard of it. Why have I never heard of it? Who is your family?"

"You know Godric will glamor you into not remembering what I tell you, yes?"

"Yes, but give me this moment, please. There is not much else left." I watched his body tense and felt with a brush of Audite the weight of his perceived failures and the loss of any future for himself. He was close to accepting death. If he lived until the next moment, so be it. But his continued life was an improbability to him.

"I am Niall's great-granddaughter. He is prince of the sky fae. My training has included a great many things, which includes portaling, shielding, concealing my appearance or changing it, seeing magic, creating life, calling other fae creatures, binding them to me and using my light as a weapon. A few of them I have not learned or not as well as I could."

"Show me who you are?" He begged. I sighed and decloaked. Watching him take me in I could see him look at me in worshipful awe and I read his mind to try and experience what he was seeing. The bells in my hair were captivating, their tiny sounds sounding like so many crystals tinkling together. The sharper curves of my face, my silver skin, the silvered teeth and claws abruptly killed his previous perception of me. I saw my eyes in his, a distant and alien creature staring back at the human. He wanted to dive in and never rise.

For Richard, I had always been somewhere between a reliable depository for his stresses or a tool. Now he knew he had always been beneath me and that he had made a mistake in his position with me. Not because he should have capitalized on our relationship for personal gain, but that he knew then that he _did not know_ as well as he thought he did about the supernatural. He could have learned from me, pursued his dreams of uniting the fae with his world without the bureaucracy. Instead he let his position restrict him from seeing what was in front of him.

"Though she be but little, she is fierce." Richard whispered, quoting Shakespeare as a means of describing to himself that I was an irritating young hybrid to him, but that he had neglected to see my true nature as a fae. I had been considered little.

I reached down to put both palms onto Godric's shoulder to ground myself in his silence. It caused him to crane his head around to look at me with affection as he patted one of my hands.

"It is unheard of to see a vampire and fae so close. You are lovers?" I bristled, my mouth parting to reveal the sharper parts of my fangs.

"He is mine as a father. As I am his as a daughter." Humans were constantly fractured from their families these days, and it would be difficult to explain to him the necessity of a family to a fae. It was even more strange to realize I was not looking forward to seeing my fairy family at all.

"So I see. I am sorry for my disrespect." Richard submissively hung his head, recognizing how precarious it was to irritate Godric or I.

"We should leave. You have room for the books?" I said impassively.

"Some, but I can see your bag will fit the rest." He got up and started packing them away in his bag and I stepped over to help.

Godric stood up, stiffening.

"We must leave. Now. Where is the exit Richard?"

"Oh, yes. It's difficult to get to…"

"Think of what it looks like and I will go there." I said, zipping up the bag. Richard uncomfortably did so as Godric vamped up to me and put his hand on my arm and Richard's. Grabbing the bags, we were now in front of a locked tunnel.

"Before we go, there is something I must take care of." My voice was hard, and both of the men looked at me carefully.

"You won't be killing anyone, right?" Richard was trying to hide his shock and fear with indignation.

"It's not up to you what I do Richard. I will be done in a few minutes. The longer we stand here speaking the less time we have to get out of here without being seen or discovered." Richard spluttered and started gesturing.

"You can't just-" Godric put an arm on his shoulder and squeezed, using his grip to turn Richard away from him confronting me.

"We will stay here and wait. If she says there is something she must do, then it will be done." His words were as solid as rock, not to be debated. _My will be done._ I smiled at Godric and popped away to a spot that I knew would be empty this time of day. Granted, I was risking the possibility it wouldn't. And that would mean I'd be killing more people instead of one.

Audite spread itself wide, utilizing my light to amplify its effects. Mind-reading on crack. From the thoughts around the base I knew that David and the other Weres' bodies had been found, along with the scent of vampire. Jumping in and out of minds I got the general consensus on the story: somehow, a vampire slipped in and killed them, taking me along with. The Weres who had found them removed the offending sexual items brought with and stuck with their story, not letting anyone suspect that I must have been working with the vampire.

Finally, I found Hodges amongst several Weres, like a ripe berry in the middle of a bramble bush.

 _Tick-tock Sookie._

I looked around, trying to find something that would act as a distraction to remove the Weres from the room. Fire alarms and sprinklers were the obvious choice. Using my hands, I allowed my magic to bubble up and sent it gently up to the ceiling, telling it to heat. I was satisfied with a burst of water and I portaled away to another spot so as to not get any more wet than I was.

I could feel several minds running towards the source of the "fire". Only two Weres from Hodges' unit left. The rest stayed put.

 _Well damnit._

There weren't a lot of options that I could think of now. Besides killing the lot of them, which was undesirable. At the same time, they probably wouldn't be here that long anyway. Still, there had to be a better way.

It came to me in a flash. Velum! I knew it had to be a person I could recall in great detail and it wouldn't do to use Godric or Richard. That left me with Jannalyn, and I had to hope she wouldn't be present. It was easy enough to imitate her voice, so I figured I'd try to call Hodges first to get him alone rather than going there myself.

Thankfully I'd taken my phone with me so I could make the call to Hodges.

"Anderson?"

"No sir, Jannalyn. I found her body… The vampire… She suffered a lot before she went and she doesn't deserve to be seen like this by everyone. Maybe come alone. Hallway B, section 15"

"Very well. When we're finished you'll report to your lieutenant about walking around without your phone. Are we clear?"

"Yes sir." I hung up and waited. The group of Weres and Hodges started to move. If the whole pack of them came with, I'd pop out before they reached me. Hodges was probably bringing them close, but not all the way.

Sure enough, as they neared, the soldiers stopped in place and Hodges moved onward. He was in hallway A, ready to turn the corner. When he did, it stood empty before him and I had apparated behind him. My hand flat on his back, I took us to his office. Despite his military training, he couldn't reach my hand before I wrapped him up in light and pinned him to a wall. He didn't say a word or let out more than a wheeze as I used my magic to melt the door into place. No one was getting in, and he was not getting out.

Ugly. His face was hideous with rage. Like the prisoner he knew himself to be, he didn't bother to speak. I sighed. I didn't want to kill him. I never wanted to hurt anyone. Looking at him sitting here, helpless, made this worse. He was only a man caught up in ignorance that he couldn't even be blamed for. That he had to die because of what he knew about me was my fault.

"When they come for you, they'll glamor you to tell them everything. If you mention me, it puts my life in danger. And you won't be able to stop them from getting inside your head." My words were quiet, as they should be when you tell someone why they're about to die.

"They're not getting in." He said succinctly. God, the man deserved a chance to live. It wasn't much of a chance, but it was _his_ life. I hadn't used the book to delve any further into Audite, relying on what power I had now to be sufficient. But I should be able to modify his mind to eliminate the information. If I could, I'd have to find a way to explain the melted door. Maybe setting the room on fire would do. I also had to consider if there was any other way I could protect him. If he had military secrets, the vampires would want those too.

"I'm going to try something ok?" My eyes closed, not waiting for his response. I went deeper into his head than I'd ever gone into another's. Back then, I wasn't as strong at going into minds. I could only hear what people thought as they thought it. Now, Hodges lay open in front of me, his memories an organized palace. Everything was readily available for my consumption.

What toy did Hodges love the most at five years of age?

A little red train.

Who first broke his heart?

Meredith.

I purused his memories of me and "plucked" at them before pulling back. It seemed best to start with an innocuous memory, something he wouldn't miss. There was a snapshot of him looking out into the traffic of a big city and he had no emotional attachment to the memory. It was just something that got stuck in his head. I grabbed it and started pulling it with Audite and it popped out like a petal might be pulled from a flower. When I let go of it, it floated away into nothing and the remaining memories coalesced themselves around the empty space, making it look like nothing was ever missing at all.

So that was the easy part. But I'd have to modify his memories now and make them different. Or at least tamper with his mind enough that he couldn't give any vampires the information if he were glamored. It didn't take long to find his recent memories of me and it was interesting to watch me through his perspective.

I took out Hodges' correspondence regarding having me classified as a weapon. This removed the entire string of him knowing who I was and him having any leverage on Richard. That still left his troops thinking that their superior officer had successfully taken over a particular personnel of Dark City that should have always been his.

I had a stroke of genius then and decided that if I could, I was going to add that the person Richard was protecting and that Hodges had taken over command of, was a vampire. Who was then staked of course. No body, neatly deals with the dead Weres and explains the vampire scent. I cautiously eased myself into the slowly closing space where his previous memories had been and willed something to take their place. It didn't work.

 _Crap. Now what?_

"You won't get away with this you know." God help me I snorted. He had just said the classic hero line to the person he thought was the villain. At least now he didn't know why I was there.

"Look buster. I'm not a saint, but I'm trying to do my best to not have to kill you, so just keep quiet for a bit, ok?"

As I listened to him struggle against his bonds, I went to work on all the information that the military had given him about Dark City, its contents and any other important meetings. I let Hodges brain guide me to those, asking it to take me to the right memories. One by one those disappeared too. I had to hope it didn't cause problems later. As for making new memories, I had given up on that idea and decided I would just have to leave his head as it was after removing his enmity for Richard over me.

Portaling out to Richard's office, I released Hodges of his bonds and stole the last memories of me being in the room. No one was too near us as I did all this, but I knew his troops would be headed back this way and they'd know that something was messed up with their commander's head once they got into his room.

" _Where's the body?" "What body?" "You know, the one Jannalyn said would be there." "Oh, there's no body."_

I could only imagine how that conversation would go. Now I was thinking of Jannalyn. I had to trust she wasn't a loose end. Instead of pursuing her, I decided to go back and check on Godric and Richard.

***Pam***

"I did watch the entire Harry Potter series once, all the way through. Humans have a complete lack of understanding about the supernatural. Wouldn't you agree Willa?"

I could hear her whimper pathetically and I mourned that she had no sense of humor. Frankly, the crazy things that humans came up with these days were a wonderful distraction. Dear Abby says it's good to have hobbies and keep busy. But, dearest Abby has never had to deal with a shitty progeny who didn't know how to be a good vampire. Maybe I would write in.

"Never the mind. If I wanted your opinion, I'd give it to you." I walked over to my table of tools. Willa had insufficient blood to heal herself as normal, which is when the fun always begins. I had a nice pair of butchering shears that stood out to me and I snatched them up.

"One thing I loved was when that heinously dressed woman who was torn apart by those half-horse half-human people had Harry write with a pen that drew his own blood for ink. I don't have anything near as magical unfortunately. Not even Eric's money can buy me that."

Pouting, I sat on the chair I had placed in front of Willa's shackled body.

"Now, you may think all of this cruel, but really we're only clearing out a backlog of punishment. It's this or you are shackled inside a coffin for a decade with blood given once every three months. This is the fairer option, believe me. And I'm an expert at punishment, so you know you're in good hands."

Willa blinked, and the sound of her eyelids moving was the only indication that she had heard me.

My voice took on a conciliatory timbre.

"When I was first punished, Eric told me I could only have a mouthful of blood a week from sickly humans, for six months. I had questioned him in front of an elder vampire." Setting the shears on my lap, I pulled out my nail file. There was no excuse for not being immaculate, even during the discipline of another vampire.

"The second time, we were leaving a town, having overstayed our welcome. The vermin were suspicious. But I, I had stalked my prey for several days and was not about to be deprived of the kill. Instead of meeting him at our rendezvous point, I snuck away and went back to the hunt. As I finished I knew that I had jeopardized us and that I would suffer the consequences for my actions. Do you want to know what he did?"

Nothing. I sighed in agitation. Vampires these days. Not a shred of dignity or a spine to speak of.

"Don't be rude Willa." I vamped over and pushed her head up with my hand. Disappointingly, there was no fire inside her eyes. This punishment had been designed to awaken it. I had needed to be cured of my impudence, but Willa needed to rid herself of the disease that is dependence. Indigent behavior in a vampire would see them staked.

"Do you want to know what he did?" I asked again.

 _Just respond, you twit._

Instead more blood oozed out of her eyes.

"You might want to save that darling, you'll need it." My chair creaked slightly when I sat back down. Reminder to talk to Ginger about that. Creaking chairs left a bad impression on guests.

"I'm going to tell you what he did anyway. He said I had a problem with respect for him as a maker. A child relies on their maker to make the right decisions for them." Silent for a moment, I waited for Willa to process what I'd said.

"My problem is my impudence. My sass, as they so love to call it here in the south. This beautiful mouth of mine has gotten me into trouble. Now I'm old enough to be mouthy, but without Eric I would never have made it here today." I didn't wait to hear that she understood before continuing.

"Your problem is the opposite of mine. Your reliant and clinging ways stink of weakness. It seems you've been trying to stick your head so far up Eric's ass that you haven't heard one iota of what others are saying about Eric."

She jerked her head up at that.

"You're listening now? Good." I purred as I heard the chains move slightly in response.

"As punishment, he cut off my hands, hair, nose, and ears. I was quite young so it took a month to regrow these appendages enough to be seen in public without the vermin screaming in terror at the sight of me. During that time I was wholly dependent on Eric to take care of me. I learned that you must trust your maker with your life. As a baby vampire, I had that fresh new feeling of immortality and power. My maker showed me what an empty truth it was. We can die, be maimed, be made weak, just like a human. It is important to remember that we came from them, and that underneath the human still lurks. But that we can be better by using our self control to survive and learn." I paused, remembering how hard won some of the lessons on being a vampire had been. The temptation of 'forever' had me throwing my arms open to the world and asking if I could drain it dry. Eric taught me that not everything was for draining and fucking. We were to stay hidden, take the blood of those who would not be missed if we accidentally killed, don't rely on emotions or the instinct to kill, to learn strategy and self control as well as trust our bloodline. As I aged, I watched other vampires who had failed to learn these lessons be staked by humans or otherwise executed by the authority. Eric had held me in check until I could truly see what the consequences would be if I failed to listen to reason.

"The biggest blow was to my pride and vanity, not my body. It restricted me to a hut and made me ugly and helpless. It was the ideal penance." My heels clicked on the floor as I carried the butcher shears over to Willa.

"Now, back to Harry Potter. We may not have a quill that draws your blood, but I _can_ cut off the tips of your fingers so you are able to write 'I will not question my Master' fifty times on the wall."

As I said this, I shoved my hand over Willa's mouth to catch the impending scream. Her tiny fangs pushed against my palm as she did so, howling in fear. Eric should have stuck with blondes. Willa was no savvy Skipper to my badass Barbie.

***Sookie***

I popped in front of Godric and Richard, the latter of whom freaked out upon seeing me.

"It's ok Richard." I said plainly.

"He's… You…?"

"No Richard, he's not dead. I just took his memories." Godric raised an eyebrow at me.

"You can do that?" My erstwhile boss practically shouted.

"Yes, I can. And if you want to get out of here alive, you need to shut up. Like now. Let me get this thing open." I walked over to the entrance of the tunnel, noting its metal doors and the long bar that was locked into place over it.

I pushed my light out so it would flow into the lock, finding the gears and pins to open it. The lock clicked and Godric moved in to lift up the bar that blocked the door.

"This tunnel is several miles long and leads to a well hidden grate. There is a waterfall over it, and it is barely surpassable by human means." Richard chimed in, trying to stop being a hinderance with his questions.

"Ok. Godric, carry me as far as you can to the entrance and then I will portal back to retrieve you Richard."

"There are zapper chains in the way and the tunnel is lined with the usual metals." I looked at Richard as he quailed under my irritated gaze.

"It's going to be ok Richard, just tell me how many."

"Even I don't know." I thought for a moment. It was dark in here and there were no lights. I couldn't apparate past the chains and iron lining of the tunnel.

"The door here is the same assortment of metals?" Richard mutely nodded.

"Damn. We will just have to go as quickly as we can and leave this door open. Richard in front. You will have to help pick up the chains. Know that I am not allergic to iron, but it does bother me and restrict my teleportation. If you should attempt to hurt Godric, you will find yourself dead. Am I clear?" He nodded frantically. This was not a situation Richard had ever found himself in, and he had no patterns of behavior to fall back on.

We walked for some time, Richard carefully moving aside the chains as Godric and I ducked through. Soon I could sense the fresh air and water creeping in and I resisted the urge to run to it. The grate was reached soon enough and Godric studied how it was carefully drilled into the rocks.

"I can push this off without collapsing the tunnel, but I can't seal it back up afterwards." Godric said blandly.

"Realistically, the city won't make it more than another week or two." I mused.

"You really believe this? We have troops here and many weapons designed to eliminate vampires. I can't see how…" Richard was only a human, and he didn't have much fortitude. Never a warrior like I was learning to be, his identity consisted of where he lived, what he did and what he knew. The former two of which had rapidly disappeared, with the latter soon to be taken away by glamor.

"I spent a lot of time tracking and killing vampires Richard. If anyone here is qualified to know what they can and cannot do, it is Godric and I. Godric?"

"Her estimate is accurate. The frequency of the glamored Weres proves that they've found your personnel supply chain. I have seen the UV lights on the ceilings as we have walked to the training facility, but it won't matter. It would take one Were to flip off the generator and from there it would be chaos. Vampires are able to fight in complete darkness. They will make endless progeny to send in first before they allow any of their stronger players to enter."

"It's truly over then." The dejected look on his face told me how close he was to shutting down and potentially being more of a burden to our escape.

"Buck up Richard. We'll make sure you live a good life after this."

"It won't be one of my making." His depression was palpable.

"We'll do our best to find something reasonable for you." I said sympathetically.

"Let us leave here first and get to safety before dawn. Then we can discuss any future plans, yes?" My vampire was the voice of reason, reminding me that we weren't out of the woods yet. The soldiers would discover that Richard was gone and Hodges was locked up in his room.

"I'm taking the grate off now." Godric nodded to me before looking back out towards the water and pushing the grate out. It clattered down the rockface and was enveloped by the water below. It smelled so very good outside. It'd been ages since I'd seen the sun or felt the air on my body.

"You're glowing. Why're you glowing. Godric? Why's she glowing!?" The human nattered away, ruining the moment.

"Because I'm a fae Richard, and sometimes, we just glow!" Our burgeoning fight was interrupted by a couple of splashes on the rock overlooking the water. Two tiny and wet humanoid bodies were pulling themselves up from their bellies with their hands from where they had landed. We all stood frozen in place, taking in the little fins and flipper hands before we saw their faces. Cat-like hisses exuded from their tiny fanged mouths and they launched themselves forward.


	22. Chapter 22

Thanks for beta'ing Suzy Meinen! It's great to see all the new subscriptions and reviews. Sorry this is such a short chapter, but I promise it gets better going forward now that we're through the weeds.

"Nixe!"

Instinctively my light shot out, and then they were fried-Nixe. Their crispy bodies fell, looking like grilled fish taken out of tinfoil. Richard had fainted at the sight of them and Godric looked surprised. Had they been waiting for us? Did they sense our presence and attack?

"We should leave the area as soon as we can. They're nixe of the water fae variety and apparently sky and water fae don't get along very well." I thought about the book sitting in my bag right now. It and I were going to have a discussion later. Especially about it taking over my body.

"I have a house in Louisiana. We will go there."

"Oh hey, that's where I'm from! Since we don't have enough time to fly or drive there, I could pop us there. What do you think?" Now why did Godric of all people have a house in Louisiana?

"That is convenient. Are you ready Richard?" He was still slumped on the ground, his eyes a flutter from having fainted.

"No…"

"Well, portaling used to be a nauseating experience for me, and I bet that will be true for you too. So maybe we should go while you're still nauseous so you don't experience it twice? Hmm?"

"Oh god. Fine, yes." He paused, holding his chest and still blinking. "I never thought I'd see a nixe."

"Yeah, I read a tiny bit about them in passing." The book had mentioned nixe in reference to Innuo, to call, and Ligabis, to bind. They were one of few creatures a fae could tie to themselves. Most fae had one or two of each species of fae creatures bound to them. Someday, I might have a nixe of my very own. Though not a water one, I decided. They were gross looking.

"Nixe are the only thing I know about. The sky fae have birds, earth fae have squirrels and other types of rodents." Richard turned on his academic voice.

"I saw the sketch of the owl you had the first day I walked into the SSS." It was a fond memory, knowing that there were fae creatures stranger than I.

"I do miss that. I left it behind in the office." With that declaration, Richard slumped in on himself and looked despondent again. Godric stared at him with his usual calm and somewhat blank expression. The vampire's emotions were always tiny twitches, barely perceptible to a human.

"We have the books though Richard. Maybe you'd like to just go home instead?"

"Yes. Take me to my grandmother's." I saw the image of the house again. Nodding at Godric, we both walked over to Richard and I touched the both of them.

We were in a quiet suburban neighborhood that was lit up sparingly with street lamps. The house we stood in front of had a porch light and through the picture window in front we could see the soft blue glow of a television. We were all silent, watching Richard's face as he looked at the house. He seemed devastated.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I can't go back. There's no where I belong." Panic laced Richard's voice as he backed away slowly.

"Just let her take the money and think that I am dead. She deserves it for all the times… I ignored her and tried to act like I was better than the life she gave me." It helped me see where he was coming from. Richard trying to be in control and dictate the next actions taken were his way of being _better_. I knew what it was like to grow up with less, but I supposed that my gift had made me reliant on Gran, whereas Richard chaffed and chomped at the bit, wanting more than this. I had to admit, a suburb wasn't as neat as an old house built by your family. Places like this could be considered suffocating to some.

"Richard, I think you should become my dayman. Do you agree?" I was blown away by Godric's statement. It was a good idea, sure, but wow, really? I mean, it _was_ a perfect solution and I wondered why I hadn't thought of it. Probably because I wasn't restricted by the time of day and maybe I thought I was the one who would be taking care of his needs while he was at rest. I tamped down on that jealousy and focused instead on having compassion for Richard.

I was surprised how easily the negative feeling went away. When I'd been living in Dark City I'd been pessimistic and somewhat down and out. It wasn't like depression. Depression was what I had after Diantha's death, the team breaking up and then Octavia's suicide. This other state of being had been sluggish and thick with irritation.

"I could do that." I snapped out of my musings about my mood and gave Richard and his words my full attention. The academic side of Richard said yes. The human said yes. The SSS supervisor was pissed, arguing that at this point he should have a cushy job that paid six figures and garnered him respect. The internal struggle was difficult to watch given that I was invested in his answer. Godric needed a loyal day-man, and preferably someone he didn't have to glamor too often. It was important to both of us that we had someone willing to work with a vampire. Strategically it was to Godric's benefit if his day man felt that he owed Godric and a fae his life.

"Will you do it though?" I asked. He was still thinking, but I wanted a decision soon. The sun would rise soon enough that I wanted to be settled in to Godric's house before it rose.

"I think I must."

"That's not enough. You would have Godric's life in your hands during the day." I tried not to hiss at him, but I took a step forward anyway and bared my teeth. Human Sookie had been put away now that she was no longer needed and my teeth were sharp and frightening to Richard. I wasn't worried about looking like a fae right now, and if felt freeing to be 'me'. Godric or I could glamor anyone who saw me and I was constantly using my Audite as a radar to check where minds were at all times. We were still safely unobserved in this neighborhood.

"I'd like a trial run. I'll do my best and if it's the job for me, I can continue. If it's not, then I'd like to be able to leave. You'll be glamoring me either way." I wish he'd stop being so morose. He acted like his life was over, and yes, it was in a lot of ways, but there were good things left. Maybe I could be more sympathetic, but I'd already given up a lot of lives to be where I am and I had little patience for dilly dallying.

"I'm going to glamor you now to prevent you from telling anyone anything about me or related to me, excepting Sookie. This includes my homes and my day resting places. Included in this I will prevent you from telling anyone about Sookie, but you will be able to keep those memories. Sookie, is this amenable to you?"

"Yes." This was a good solution. Richard wanted to know more about the fae and maybe I could bother him to do more research on my kind to help me learn. Godric stepped forward and looked deeply into Richard's eyes. I could see the moment that Richard's face opened up to the vampire's influence.

"You will never speak of me to another, nor will you tell anyone my secrets. My home, day resting places, progeny, financial and real estate assets, my friends, my enemies and my other employees are off limits. You will not harm me, Sookie or any of my bloodline. Should you encounter anything about me or my friends that seems like it should be a secret, you will not tell anyone and come to me immediately."

"Yes. I will come to you immediately."

"Ready all?"

"Let's go Sookie." My vampire's cold fingertips gently brushed my wrist before he settled his hand on my arm. Learning quickly, Richard reached out to hold my other wrist and I jumped to the back parking lot of Merlotte's, the only place I knew would be somewhat empty. My home was an unknown and I didn't know any place in Shreveport that I could guarantee would be unpopulated this time of night.

"Now what?" I asked.

"I suppose we steal a car." Godric mused. I blanched.

"We're not stealing anyone's car!"

"How do you expect us to get to my home?" I realized he was asking me the question instead of sarcastically telling me that he believed there was no other alternative.

"Why don't we leave Richard and the bags here for now and you fly me to your home. When you do, I'll pop back here and grab him."

"You can fly? And I'm to be alone in the parking lot? Can't you take me too?" Godric's new day man squeaked. He'd have to bolster his confidence in order to continue in his position. I knew he'd be interacting with Weres and other vampires on the daily. Being alone in the dark was the least of what he was in for.

"Richard, there will be things you are asked to do that you will not want to and will be frightened of. Fear is a reasonable response, at times. However, in this circumstance you have nothing to fear. Sookie will be back in a half hour, which is as long as it will take me to fly with her to my home."

Always reasonable, I could hear the human's mind try to calm itself with platitudes. People always turned to the familiar when they were afraid, for good or for ill. If words of wisdom that were overused and obvious were what comforted Richard, then so be it. I walked over to Godric.

"Piggyback ride?" I asked. He looked at me and then tilted his head in question.

"I'm going to get on your back and wrap my arms around your neck and my legs around your waist."

"Ah." He turned around and I climbed on the physically teenaged vampire. Without further comment he started levitating and quickly ascended through the air, much like a plane. His forward and upward movement made it easier for me, instead of feeling like I was on that ride at Six Flags that took you straight up and dropped you.

Godric's body moved parallel to the ground, allowing me to rest my arms and legs instead of fighting gravity.

"I could help us move faster you know." I said, realizing that I could see several feet in front of me and if I portaled every 20 feet or so, we'd get there a lot quicker. It reminded me of Diantha to offer this to him, and I felt the scar tissue of losing her ease up. This was something I could share with Godric too, and not feel like I could lose him any second. Trust could be a strange thing sometimes.

"I see your point. Perhaps next time as a practice? I am aware of Richard's discomfort and I wouldn't want anything to happen that causes our trip to take any longer than necessary."

I grumbled inside and out, causing Godric to laugh. The air felt so good on my face as we flew that I couldn't stay irritated for long. Something had been missing from my life and I was beginning to think it was being outside. I had long since let go of my perfect tan when I moved into Dark City. It was sad, but in the act of shedding my life above ground that included Amelia and the other employees at the SSS, it became easier to accept the change.

The lights of Shreveport came into view and Godric started his descent towards a less well lit area outside of the city. I could feel the air lift me slightly as we went down, making me feel like I could fly myself. In a way I could do something like that with apparating in the air quickly enough that I would move before I fell too far. Sometime soon, I'd try it. I had a lot of things to try now.

The house was massive. Its roof must have spanned the length of four normal houses. We drifted down like falling leaves and when I got a good look at the ground I portaled to it. It was eerie that there were no lights anywhere and I could only see the reflection of the moon in the windows that helped me see the outline of the house. Nah, the mansion.

"Godric, how did you keep this house under ownership when you were gone so long?"

"It passed down to my progeny. Knowing him, he would have kept it as is. If my thumbprint does not work to open the doors, we will break in. Though it will cause him to come running to the house. Are you ready to meet my progeny and also your future mate soon?" His eyebrows rose up with amusement.

"Ready to kick his ass if he tries to put any moves on me. Stop matchmaking, vampire." I sniffed. Godric chuckled deeply as we walked to the door. Flipping a piece of plastic up, I could see that it was covering a small screen. Godric placed his thumb on it and the door clicked open. The lights automatically went on, and I was thankful for that.

"I think I should go grab your dayman before he pees his pants." I giggled. He smiled and gestured for me to leave.

Popping to Merlotte's, I ended up sneaking behind Richard as he was telling himself every terrible thing that could happen to him while he was waiting. Attacked by Weres, or drained by vampires. Drunken humans beating him to death. A meteor falling on his head.

"Richard." He yelled in fear as he whipped around. He then sighed and relaxed his shoulders.

"Time to go." I walked over and soothingly put my hands on either side of his arms and reached down to touch our bags. He relaxed and waited for us to move. I was surprised he hadn't had more nausea when we portaled. He seemed completely unaffected.

I could see Godric in the kitchen of the house at a computer with his hands a blur as he typed at vampire speed. Behind me, Richard let out a huge yawn and I remember that while I was on vampire time, he was not. It was around 4am and way past Richard's bed time. I myself had been needing more sleep of late, though I felt not as tired as I normally was being here. Must be all the excitement of tonight. We walked up to the door and pushed it open. Godric had left it slightly ajar, likely because we couldn't get in otherwise with the security.

The vampire looked up from his computer and evaluated the both of us.

"There is a guest room just up the stairs to the right, Sookie. It is normally used for my progeny's progeny. Richard you will take the room on the first floor just around the corner from the kitchen. Godric pointed towards the other side of the kitchen and Richard mutely walked towards it, operating on fumes now that he was relaxing from the aftermath of being alone in the parking lot.

"You have a place to sleep that is safe?" I asked before yawning myself.

"Of course child. I will see you at nightfall. Before you sleep I would have you program your thumb into the security system. Tomorrow you will go grocery shopping for yourself and Richard. In your room there should be a closet full of clothes. My granddaughter spends entirely too much on clothes that she will never wear." He quirked his lips as he looked at me.

"Ok, there is a bank in town that I can access some funds. I believe Richard and I bank at the same place, so it will be two birds with one stone."

"Oh no, you will be using my money to stock the refrigerator. You are after all, my guest."

"I can pay my own way Godric, no need to be so generous." No way in hell was I going to start living off the largesse of any vampire, even if he was my favorite. Besides, I had my own money now!

"Very well, but you will take the clothing that you like from the closet. She will never know anything is missing unless she sees you wearing it. But I am sure you will do any outfit justice enough to keep her from being too irritated."

"Are you sure she'll understand? Maybe I should just stick with what I have and go shopping tomorrow. " Godric raised his hand to stop me from continuing and shook his head.

"She hates unfashionable clothing and people. I'm sure if you come to know her better, she will start dressing you anyway. With your cooperation or no. You might as well utilize what she has in her closet. You will see that anything you choose will not be , I think she might very much like to dress you." His smirk was infuriating.

"I'm 26, not 6, and I can dress myself thank you very much!"

"I look forward to hearing you explain that to her." The gleeful sheen in Godric's eyes told me that I might not actually win the argument with his grand-progeny. Oh well. I was pretty sure I could convince her that I looked best in sundresses.

"On the agenda for tomorrow, before I go to bed," another yawn took over before I continued, "I'll be scouting around for a place to live, along with getting Richard set up here. He'll get an apartment close by in Shreveport. And I'd like you to come with me just after sundown to my former workplace. All my friends will likely be there and I'd like for you to meet them." I could see Godric considering this, his eyes zoning out.

"What's stopping you?" I asked, noting that he had been silent for a few moments longer than usual.

"My progeny may come here at next sundown to investigate why the house was in use. It would be prudent to give you a night to settle here before you both meet. He can be… disagreeable."

"And this is the guy you want me to go out on a date with? Puh-lease. He can find someone else to deal with his cranky vampire ass."

"On the contrary, I believe you may be one of the few besides myself that can deal with him."

"Hmph. Are you coming tomorrow tonight or no?"

"Yes, I will come. Though we must go to my progeny later that night, if he does not show up." Relieved, I started walking towards the stairs that led up to my bedroom.

"And Sookie?"

"Yes?"

"I assume you have been cloaking your scent, and I think it wise for you to continue to do so."

"Of course. Thanks for looking out for me." I smiled with happiness that he was paying attention to the details that might come back later to bite me if I didn't pay attention myself.

"Night Godric." Trudging up the stairs I entered my new bedroom without turning on the lights. The moon illuminated the outlines of the furniture and I could see the bed didn't have a base board to bruise me with, so I hastily tossed myself on top of it, threw my luggage to the side and passed out.

***Eric***

I pulled out my iPhone and scanned the notifications. Someone had just accessed Godric's, now my house near Shreveport. It wasn't an alarm, so it must have been hacked. I unlocked my phone and checked my emails for explanation.

The message sat open in front of me and I asked myself if I was hallucinating. Godric's thumbprint had been used to open the door. And shortly thereafter another thumbprint had been added to the security system.

It was too late to fly there now and establish what was happening. If someone else had broken in and taken over the house, it would be too close to the sun to succeed in addressing it. I also couldn't send a dayman to check the premises since the house was without access to a road.

"Pamela!" She zoomed in, silver wand still in hand.

"Yes master?"

"It seems Godric has come home."

"Master." Pam's emotions became a panoply of feelings. Joy, apprehension, concern for me, curiosity, anger at the hurt Godric had caused me by leaving.

"We leave at sunset." And she nodded in assent, excitement flowing off of her body.

"Willa, master?"

"She is yours to command. If you feel she is ready to participate effectively as a vampire…" I left my statement open ended, a question as to how my wayward progeny was doing.

"She is not ready." I could see Pam grip the silver in her gloved hand.

"Very well. We will sleep here for the night and I will let Bobby know to have a few Weres stake out the streets around Fangtasia since Willa will be staying in the basement."

"Master." She sped off.

Godric. I longed to feel the maker-child bond open once more. To look into his face and discern the why and the how of his leaving.

***Niall***

The magic twisted and focused on the being that had been tapping the surface of it. All fae could feel the connection of light and magic, but only the nobles of our race could discern the usage of it. My true child was back, and though she was cloaked, no one could hide the ripples of magic use, and I knew every one of our people's signature. It was none of them. It was all her touch.

There had been almost a year's time that she had been virtually undetectable. Previously there were murmurs and glancing touches on the pool of magic that indicated she was alive and well. Where she had been was an unknown, but for the one failed lead in California.

Each and every time I had felt the waves from her touch on our collective magic, I had kept my ears to the ground at her previous residence, hoping my contacts would catch a glimpse. A blurred face from witchcraft was a boon now; it was a confirmation that it was her if she were seen. I was sure of this. Just as I was sure that she would come back to her human family's home.

This time I could feel her hand dip deeper into what bound us all. It moved with clarity and strength, manipulating the threads and calling them carefully for her usage. She had been practicing our ways and had adept control at handling magic that left me questioning just what traitor had been training her while I had spent all this time looking for her.

He or she would die. And then the Viking would, should he interfere. Possibly the King too, though he was a bumbling human-like fool that would never have a hold on my dearest Sookie.

Yes, I would be paying a visit to Bon Temps soon to wait.


	23. Chapter 23

Sorry for the shorter chapter. A long one is coming up soon.

Thanks Suzy Meinen for beta'ing. The reviews are great, and I know exactly how frustrating it is that Eric and Sookie aren't together yet! And please don't hate me in like five chapters ;).

***Sookie***

"The _sun._ " My body wriggled with joy as I ran down to the kitchen. It was ten and Richard hadn't risen. I myself had only gotten six hours, but I felt perfectly refreshed. I realized that there was nothing here to eat and I knew I'd have to go out soon. There was a note on the counter that was weighted down with a stack of cash.

 _Please buy furniture and other necessities you may need to live here, or at least spend time as a guest. Consider the money as a gift, and if you cannot do so, then as a payment for settling my day man into his home._

 _Also, please give him $40k out of this amount to start setting up his new life. You have $80k in total here and if Richard needs anything further, please provide extra._

 _There should be general supplies for humans in your room and the closet nearest the patio door. My progeny is ever prepared._

 _Unfortunately there are no cars here because this land is not meant to be accessible. You will have to buy a car. I trust you have all of your documents from the SSS that you can buy it under your alias._

 _Thank you Sookie, for everything, and I look forward to meeting your friends this evening._

 _G_

Vampires. Always pushing things on you, good or bad.

I was skipping around the house now, anxious to get outside and lay in the sun. Bouncing up to my room, I went to look for a swimsuit and some clothes for afterwards.

As soon as I had woken up, I'd rushed out of the room to the downstairs. Walking into the bedroom now, I took in the decor.

Pink ohmygod pink. The bed spread and pillows were a vibrant pink, accentuating the carpet, which was a light pink. _The carpet. I don't want to meet the person that thought this was a good idea._ Even the walls were another shade of pink, and tying it altogether was a pink ceiling fan and picture frames of pink with pink-only paintings. I was seriously worried about the design of the closet.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I could see that the walls were a neutral ivory. And at least the woman didn't think that all her outfits had to be pink. A lot of them looked expensive and most still had tags.

"'Waste not, want not does not seem to be a vampire proverb." Not a t-shirt, pair of jeans, flat sandals or sneakers to be found. I pulled out a nice silky red blouse that looked like it would fit me, along with a camisole and bra. The next best thing to jeans was a pair of skintight black denim that were an absolute bitch to get over my feet as I tried them on. Skinny pants were great and all, but really? I paired it up with some little black booties and a plain black belt, the latter of which was like finding the holy grail after I dug through about 50 different wildly varied belts shoved into a drawer. The closet was the size of my old bedroom, but it was barely noticeable with all the clothes stuffed into it. Lucky me we wore the same shoe size. Or she just bought a bunch of stuff for humans too, in all different sizes. Who knew, there was so much packed in here.

 _Pinky McShops-a-lot. Pink-compoop, Darth pink._ I'm sure she wasn't that deserving of the nicknames I gave her, but damn! There was probably over $50k worth of clothes in this closet, and I hadn't even looked at the cocktail dresses peeking out from behind the jackets. If they were designer dresses like everything else here was designer, we're talking $100k or more. Godric should be pissed his grandbaby was hoarding all this. _Let's not get worked up now Sookie, shower first, then sun and judging other people later._

There were a few swimsuits, which was amazing considering that she was a vampire. What use a vampire would have for swim suits was beyond me. They were strappy and barely covered my lady bits, which was fine by me because I needed a tan like nobody's business. At this point, I was ready to lay in the grass in order to get some much needed sun. I tossed my clothing on the bed and went to the bathroom to take care of my human needs.

The bathroom was attached to the bedroom and it was hands down the most awesome and gorgeous one I'd ever seen or been in for that matter. If someone had told me this bathroom was my hotel room, I'd die happy. There were enough fluffy towels to make a bed, all sorts of natural and organic soaps, shampoos and conditioners, and that's only where it started. The separate shower was neat, but it was the bathtub that blew me away. It was like a mini pool in the corner of the room.

When I got downstairs and opened up the closet next to the patio, I was shocked into laughter. Someone had bought ten bottles of each item, with no regard for how quickly a product might run out. Ten toothbrushes, sunscreen, lotion, bug spray, deodorant, hair styling products, hair dryers, etc. There was probably several gallons of lotion, and who needed ten boxes of q-tips? Or ten hair dryers for that matter.

Yup, vampires. Overcompensating on most everything.

I decided I should leave Richard a note before I went wandering off to the backyard. Godric had left the pen and paper handy that he had used to write his own note. I took the money and the original note and put it in a cabinet for now.

 _Richard,_

 _Outside getting some sun. If you don't see me there, I'm inside taking a shower and will be down shortly._

 _Call me Sookie from now on, not Stephanie, ok?_

 _Sookie_

I went back to the closet and went to grab a towel. They were towels of the softest, thickest fabric and I wrapped one around myself before grabbing a bottle of sunscreen. I'd take a shower after sunbathing so as not to be forced to take two of them. In the light, I could see through the windows out to a well maintained pool with lawn chairs and umbrellas. Godric must have set it all up last night and I felt a wellspring of warmth and care for him. He'd been everything a child could want in a father. Strong, caring and utterly reliable. It was the little things, like knowing I'd like to be in the sun and making sure I was comfortable while I did so. I wondered sometimes why I hadn't been attracted to him. I knew it had something to do with the way his comfort reminded me of Gran. At the same time I almost expected him to be interested, but he'd been the furthest from it. Maybe he was asexual now after being desensitized to most humans. Or he was gay. Ah well. There was time to think of these things. Sun first!

The door slid open easily and I stepped out into the warm air. With the sun high in the sky I breathed in the scent of warm vegetation. It felt like home and I strolled down to a lounging chair and tossed my towel on it. Sprawling out, I started my sunscreen routine.

After about an hour of being in the sun, with a single rotation to get my back as well as my front, Richard had not made it downstairs. Poor guy must be really out of it after last night.

During my dozing as the sun beat down, I'd had time to think of last night's events and plan for the future. First I'd shower, and then unpack my room. If Richard wasn't up yet, I would go grab him and send him off to the shower. I was reluctant to leave him alone with Godric in the house, even if Godric had security for his day rest and Richard was glamored to not do anything stupid.

One trick I had used when I was with the team was looking on google satellite maps to see if there were places I could apparate to without being seen easily. Even from the perspective of Google's car, I could see large fences or trash bins that blocked the view from the road. If one or two people saw me, I could manage their memories.

So, pre-paid cells and groceries first, popping one back to Richard and one for Godric. Then I'd be looking for a car dealership nearest the outskirts of town. Maybe even out of town. After finding one to my liking, I'd purchase the two cars and have Richard call for the insurance while I went through the paperwork. Then we'd get Richard settled into place before I drove the car to a secluded spot and popped back to Godric's.

I'd have to save shopping for clothes later if I wanted to be ready when Godric arose. From there we'd go immediately to Merlotte's to see if my friends and family were there.

Then I'd have to suck it up and meet Godric's progeny after we checked in with the Sheriff. When I'd heard Bill had taken over the kingdom, I assume Eric would have left, given how much they disliked each other. Yes, there had to be a new Sheriff in town and it wasn't Mr. Northman. That thought relaxed me and I realized I was excited to check out my old home, after I determined from my friends what happened to it. If Jason had sold it, I'd understand, but I'd be trying to buy out the new owner pretty quick.

A very annoying 'Kraa' of a raven cut through my reverie. Keeping my eyes closed, I hoped it would shut the hell up.

Kraa.

Nope. I looked around to see where the noise was coming from.

Kraa.

In the tree closest to the concrete of the pool in front of me sat a raven-sized nixe with black feathers on its arms and legs, beady eyes and bird claws for its hands and feet. It looked at me again and made its characteristic noise before leaving the tree and swooping over towards me. Holy fuck. I tried to shield myself for the beat of its wings, forgetting that I could have turned it into southern fried chicken. Nothing happened and I opened my eyes to see the nixe standing in front of my lounge chair blinking rapidly before issuing another 'kraa'.

"Hi there." I ventured.

"Kraa." It hopped on the concrete towards me, very much like a real bird. The nixe probably looked like a real bird to humans if it wanted to. It stood there and blinked at me while turning its head this way and that to examine its surroundings. If I wasn't kind of terrified, it would have been comical watching this tiny feathered humanoid act like a real bird.

"Want to be friends?"

"Kraa!" It flapped its winged arms a little and landed on the edge of the chair, near my ankles.

"Don't you dare peck me." I warned it, and started gathering a little light in my hands just in case. It bounced on forward and I got a better look at its scaly, grey skin. The downy feathers on its head were adorable and it reminded me of the owl sketch. I reached out my hand instinctively to stroke it and it ducked its head under my fingers in seeming delight.

"Prruk-prruk-prruk."

He was a cute little thing, fluffing out his feathers as I scratched his head and neck. After receiving what must have been adequate attention, he flew up to sit on the roof of the house. I smiled and got up to go enjoy the pool. The water was warm from the sun and I swam a few laps before getting out and wrapping myself up in the towel. My little nixe kraa'd at me again and flapped its arms much like a bird would before settling back into his guarding position. That's what it looked like anyway, since he was surveying the yard attentively.

I could hear water running somewhere close by in the house and I figured that Richard was showering. It made me wonder if he had any civilian clothes or if he'd be stuck in what he had. I'd have to talk it over with him after we were both finished showering.

The water was lovely and I felt clean in a way I hadn't since before leaving Bon Temp the first time. The bath tub would have to wait. I was excited to start my life again back home. If things could be remotely similar to the way they were before, I'd be so very happy. Godric would protect me from vampires like Bill or Eric, if he was still around. If my friends could accept me as I was and forgive me for letting them think I was dead, I'd be the luckiest fae alive.

There were some items I had not addressed yet that I knew were coming. Niall. Bill. Eric, wherever he may be now. Octavia was dead, and I could no longer rely on the spell she and Amelia had composed to help hide our faces to be effective anymore. And then there was Amelia. Now that I was out of the SSS, she'd want to come visit or even stay with me. That was something I wouldn't be opposed to as long as she was able to accept Godric's presence in my life.

After having toweled off, I threw on my clothes and grabbed my bags. There wasn't much in them but for the book and the green jewel that my grandmother had, plus my identity as Stephanie Anderson. When I touched the green jewel, I could feel that it was magical and it thrummed in my hand.

 _Just another thing to add to the list of things that need taking care of._

I headed downstairs again. Richard was seated on a bar stool at the island, ruffling through the paperwork and books he had brought with.

"Hey." His head popped up and he smiled. The first one I'd seen in awhile from him.

"Good morning. I see that there's no food…"

"Yeah, I can help take care of that. First I'm going to get pre-paid cells and then we get a car. I know you're hungry, so I'll get to it as quickly as possible." Opening the cabinet, I pulled out the note and some of the cash. There was a walmart I was familiar enough with that I could apparate to without being seen. As I changed my appearance to look like a cross between myself and Amelia, Richard gasped.

I winked at him and blinked out of the room to Walmart. Quickly, I took a cart and started wandering down the aisles, self conscious of being around other people that weren't military, Weres or both.

By the time I reached the cashiers, I realized I had been shopping like a vampire must shop, throwing things I might need into the cart without hesitation or checking out whether I wanted it at all. At the SSS, all meals were provided at the cafeteria for free, so I'd not been in a store in ages. Apparently the skill of budgeting wasn't like riding a bike.

My cart was full and I wracked up a $400 plus bill. Hesitantly I pulled out $500 from my pocket and handed it over to the cashier, trying to avoid being seen with that much currency on my person.

I could feel eyes on me as I left the store and more than one person was wondering if I was some kind of prostitute or stripper. Maybe a fangbanger even, though I had no marks. Those thoughts were enough to spur me to get to the side of the building where no one could see even faster. It was a hassle grabbing all the bags at once, but I did so and popped back into the kitchen.

Richard jumped, and then quickly stood up to help me put everything away.

"Why don't you activate the track phones Rich, and I'll put the groceries away."

"Yes, of course." I could tell he was treating me as if I was Godric and it boded well for his being useful to the vampire.

When everything was squared away and we had eaten a snack, we googled around for the ideal dealership. It took a couple hours, but by the end we had two new Cadillac Escalades that we had parked in an apartment building complex where Richard was applying to live. It wasn't just any apartment place. We had picked one that had nicer units than most. I knew Godric would be upset if his day man looked cheap, because it reflected poorly on him.

With no job, the complex wanted more than a down payment and first month's rent. We responded by giving them $20k, which was enough to cover the rent plus a little more. It wasn't like they could refuse at that point. I left Richard there and drove my car towards Godric's manse. I was familiar enough with the highway and the area that I knew a secluded place to park. The fauna tended to devour any house that wasn't maintained, but gravel tended to stick around. I was able to park the car away from the road near an old rotting out house that had been mostly reclaimed by the forest.

It was already 4:30pm, and Godric would be waking up soon. While I was driving, I had begun to feel apprehensive about whether I would be accepted back into everyone's lives. And what would they think of Godric? I knew Sam despised vampires, and last time he hadn't even stood up for me when I told him Eric had claimed me. I knew in my heart that Sam could have done nothing, but it still stung.

I decided to spend the last hour reading the book. After all the back and forth with errands, I had forgotten what had happened with Godric and the ancestors. It made me quicken my pace as I entered my room, grabbing the book and opening it up on my bed.

"What the fuck book?"

 _The fae are bound to the flow of magic, which permeates throughout this world and other realms. Upon the death of a fae, their soul travels to the Summerlands while their knowledge stays within the magic. In this way, we are able to speak to our family that has long since passed into the Summerlands._

"I don't care about that. Why do you think it's at all appropriate to take over my body?!"

 _Corporeal form is no longer accessible to fae who have passed into the gates of pure magic._

"That's an explanation, not a justification!"

 _As a defense, a fae uses their Innuo to call forth fae creatures to their side and Ligabis to bind. They go where we cannot go, see what we need to see and protect us while we are unprotected. A fae only has to reach out their light and ask their magic to find what they need. A Vitae is not necessary, but it increases the timeliness of the creature's arrival._

"Now you're just dissembling. If you hadn't been so helpful the past couple of months I would toss you out into that pool right now."

 _Bound creatures relieve the burden of magic to our kind and store it as they siphon it off of you for later use. Young fae bind as quickly as possible, their bound creatures being as young as they and aging as they do. They are useful in maintaining the balance of magic inside a fae as an adult._

"Oh, you're telling me I need to get some friends are you? News flash, I already have them."

The pressure began and I panicked, knowing that I was being taken over once more.

"I'll listen to you! I'll call some things and bind them to me! Like that raven nixe! I promise I will bind him… Please let me go." My irate yelling softened to pleading as I felt the tension increase.

And as abruptly as it arrived, it stopped.

"Okay then, I'm going to go make friends with the nixe now, anything else your holiness?" It had the gall to answer.

 _A fae puts forth the Innuo seeking their match. What comes to be bound by Ligabis is chosen by magic. To call, a fae has only to extend their light out and ask it to bring you your sentinels._

"Fine. So what you're saying is, the bird isn't enough. Ok, just great." I stomped out of the room before it told me a bunch of other things I had to do while taking over my body. Maybe I'd ask Godric to burn it for me so I didn't have to look at it. I suppose the book would try and stop him though.

The fate of the book may hang in the balance, but I wasn't about to disobey its direct orders to go bind myself to some magical fae creatures. The raven wasn't so bad.

With the sun barely above the treeline I looked out into the back yard to see if the raven was there. Sure enough I heard his 'kraa' as he fluttered down in front of me.

"You sure you want to be my… friend?"

"Prruk prruk."

"Ok, here goes nothing." My light pushed out from my hand and I asked it to search for what was apparently missing. I rolled my eyes as I thought of what crazy animal or pixie would come to me as a result of this.

The nixe in front of me began to give off a soft glow and it hopped closer with its wings spread wide like it was basking in the sun. Turning my full attention to it, I had an out of body moment where I was looking back at me through the nixe's eyes. It kraa'd again and I was back in my own head.

But different than before, I could feel the raven like an extension of my magic. I knew I could see what it saw and it acted as a ward. It had always been acting as one, even before I bound it to me. How the latter had happened, I'll never know. The sun dipped below the trees now, leaving the soft light of dusk in its place.

 _Maybe we were meant to be._

I giggled at the raven-nixe who was now bouncing from foot to foot. It unexpectedly turned into a normal raven and launched itself off the ground to sit on the roof once more.

"Richard is settled in?" Godric was behind me now, and I could see the smoke coming off of him.

"What do you think you're doing? You can't be out here! Get inside! Shoo!" I moved towards him quickly and flicked my hands towards him a couple of times to get him going. He turned around and laughed all the way to the house, taking his time.

"I'm fine Sookie. A little sun never hurt anyone." He smirked and made his tone sound like he believed his words to be true.

"Hey! It's been a little bit of a crazy hour before you woke up, so I'm not taking any lip from you vampire!"

"Lip? But you can't take those off of my face…"

"Modern phrase." I made a cutting motion through the air, indicating that this wasn't the point.

"The book is being mean again." Whining, I gave him a pouty frown. He tensed even though my mood was light on the matter.

"Did it take you over ?"

"Almost." I looked away and tried not to gulp, managing a louder swallow than I would have otherwise.

"I will shred it with my claws, if you like." He said quietly.

"I'd like. But I don't think either of us will be able to. What if it took over me while you were trying to destroy it and I hurt you? I could never forgive myself." The thought of Godric's chest with my claws buried in deep was terrifying.

"Look, let's forget it for now and head out to Merlotte's. And I'd like you to meet my new friend." It was strangely natural to reach out to the nixe and tell him to come here with my light. It flew down in front of the window and tilted its head left and right as only birds can do. I had closed the door to keep out the bugs, but opened it to let him in.

"I suppose I should name him." He was still in raven form as he walked into the room, looking up at Godric.

"Huginn or Muninn?" Godric's smile was wide as he questioned the bird by crouching down and opening his hand. The nixe took that moment to transform into his humanoid form, fluffing his feathers up before smoothing them out again.

"Maybe you are Fylgja? Or Hamingja?" The vampire continued, obviously delighted with the little nixe.

"I can't pronounce those two. I like Muninn. Do you like it?" I also bent my knees to get lower to the floor and opened my hand for Muninn to hop over. Instead, he launched himself into the air and settled himself on my shoulder.

"Well that settles it then." I tried to act natural, walking around with a little creature on my shoulder.

"Did you see the track phone?" I asked.

"Already set it up, are you ready?"

"Yes, let's go." Reaching out, I grasped his hand and popped back to where we were last night.


	24. Chapter 24

Thanks Suzy Meinen for the beta'ing!

The reviews are great. Makes it easier to keep writing. :)

As an aside, "a coon's age", meaning a long time, is not a racist term. It finds its origins in the belief that raccoons lived for a very long time. It is not commonly used anymore because people generally don't know the origins of it and are thus left to conclude it is offensive.

***Eric***

"Love is stupid, Eric." Pam drawled like she was dispensing an obvious truth that every other dolt failed to see. We had gotten into this conversation regarding my past reluctance to deal with Willa and my continued fascination for Sookie.

"Love is often the admittance that we aren't better than stupid, Pam. Which is why I don't engage in it with others besides my own family. Who else is there to trust but my blood?"

"Is that so." She felt I was forgetting something crucial.

"I have warned you about speaking poorly of your future mistress, Pamela."

"She had better fully appreciate your interest and accept that she is yours. It's not every day the Viking deigns to pay attention to a female as you do her. And certainly not one who has run away from home." Pam sniffed in haughtiness.

"I'm sure my future lover will recognize the worth of what I have to offer when I find her." I purred, thinking longingly of the fairy, even as I felt the burgeoning concern for what would take place tonight at Godric's home.

" _If_ you can find her."

"Pam… Any more insolence and you will be chained up along with Willa."

"Understood. In the meantime, may I dye Willa's hair blonde? Perhaps you will find her palatable then."

I glared at her.

Pam gave me a fangy smile and sped off. My progeny was still acting as master for Willa, and some progress had been made. Pam kept me abreast of all her dealings with Willa, noting my other progeny's improvements. Instead of torturing Willa now, Pam had Willa torturing and staking vampires that needed punishment. Only once had Willa come to me, begging to be relieved of these duties.

I remember my words clearly.

" _My progeny will not shirk from dispensing necessary justice. If you wish to be of value to our blood, you will be capable of executing all tasks I ask of you. Whether that be mopping the floor of blood, or silvering and staking derelict vampires. You should know exactly what the consequences are for disobedience."_

"Master?" Willa stood in the doorway, her face tentatively questioning while revealing little else.

"You're managing the bar tonight. Pamela and I have business to attend to." I had wanted to leave at sundown, but a vampire had needed punishment immediately upon the sun going down.

"Yes master." Willa turned to leave, her face a colder mask than she had ever been able to muster previously. It was nice to hear not a single complaint regarding what I asked of her.

"Willa." She turned slightly, waiting for my command.

"Did you and Pam find a suitable dress for the Midsummer Ball?" Preparations for Bill's solstice party had been taken on by Pam, Willa and Jessica. Mostly Pam while the other two followed along taking notes. The hosting of it would be next to Compton's Bon Temp property, formerly Stackhouse land. I had tried to dissuade Bill from using the area at all in preparation for Sookie's return, but he had said that when she did she would be given it as a gift. When Sookie had disappeared, I had been the first to buy her land, but I could not prevent Bill, him being my king, from utilizing it as he saw fit. Including commissioning me to build a lavish plantation style house that took the place of the run down farmhouse. Just one more thing to add to the list of things Bill did not understand about Sookie.

Some of Bill's misconceptions couldn't be helped. Bill was a little over 200 years to my 1000. I had the wherewithal to observe that a house as old as Sookie's had been a costly burden. While the house and land had been owned outright, there were taxes, insurance and other bills to be paid. They could have sold the entire thing and Sookie's grandmother could have lived out her life in a well kept nursing home. Instead Sookie had driven a poorly running car and worked at a bar to make it so that they could both stay in their ancestral home.

When I went into Sookie's house for the last time, I noted the carefully stored food in the freezers, the cans in the pantry and not a whiff of any nasty snack food or takeout. This only served to remind me that Sookie's blood was fairly untainted by overly processed food. Each appliance was clean, no splatters of grease or other liquids on surfaces, stove or standing mixer. She and her grandmother had been efficient with their efforts and it was sufficient for them. No scents of human stress or unhappiness were to be found in any of the rooms.

These were the details vampires noticed. Most did not care and lumped all of these feelings into a single category of disgust for humans. Disgust for their needing to eat, what they ate, the smells they generated, and excreted bodily fluids and solids. Most of all, their feelings. If the craving for blood was not a constant hum in the background, vampires would only find humans appealing when hungry, of that I was sure. But lust, in humans and in vampires, made us overlook the small things.

For the most part, I had always felt dissociated from these facts about humans. Disgust was not part of the equation, since they could do nothing to prevent their circumstance. When I looked at the bones of her life that was her home, I felt no distance. The evidence of human occupancy had still lingered, and it excited me now. Even the scent of her grandmother was not unpalatable to me. But without Sookie here, I was outside of a window looking in.

I will admit I had taken a few pieces of Sookie's clothing with me before demolition, for the scent alone.

"Yes. Pam has excellent taste. We will make you proud." Her words were genuine, not containing the pitiful tone of just days previous. Finally, Willa was heeling. Having her automatically follow my orders, left space to think about Godric. We would be leaving shortly to find out who had been at the house.

***Sookie***

The parking lot was a lot more full this time and I crept forward, looking for Lafayette, Jason and Tara's cars. I spotted Jason's and Lafayette's and felt relief. At least they were here. Muninn had immediately flown away and sat in a large tree, kraa'ing and adjusting its feathers in raven form.

I assumed Sam would be tending bar per usual and I was thankful I had sent him that money to buy a new truck after I stole and abandoned his.

I stopped moving forward, and Godric sidled up next to me.

"It will be ok Sookie. Let us stay here a moment to reflect."

"What are you going to tell your child?" I turned the subject on him, trying to start a 'if you do it, I'll do it' conversation.

"Well, by now he knows we have entered the house and he will most certainly be coming tonight to inspect it. He is likely unhappy that I have not reached out to him."

"You haven't called or opened the bond at all?" I was shocked and a little upset. No one wants to be ignored by their parents, and for Godric to be in town and hide himself from his child was a little cruel.

"No. I do not know how he will react."

"It's not your place to predict that Godric! Open the damn bond and send him your love you ass!" He was lucky I was only half considering finding out a way to drop him on his head.

"I am not sure that's wise."

"Wise-shmise. If I can walk into the place I used to work and look my boss in the eye, whose truck I stole by the way, and surprise my friends and family by not being dead, you can tell your progeny that you're here and you're ok. You got me?"

"I do have you. Don't I?" I dug my fingers into my forehead.

"Don't get smart with me. You know what I mean. Now go on. Do as I say vampire." Crossing my arms, I tapped my foot on the ground, waiting.

"You will not let this go?"

"Nope."

"Very well." Godric closed his eyes and stood still. After a minute he opened them.

"So?"

"I sent him love and caution. He knows we are here and we'll come to him in time."

"You can't invite him now?"

"He's a very good child, but a bit abrasive and superior." Godric smirked now. "He'll make a mess if not fully informed before meeting us."

"I imagine he gets the _superiority_ from his father. And by good child, you mean a good vampire." My voice was low, but I knew the vampire would catch it.

"Tit for tat Ms. Stackhouse. Let's go." And with that Godric strode forward, forcing me to follow him.

"And where'd you learn that turn of phrase." I said, catching up with him.

"A movie. I do pay attention." He looked back at me smugly.

We made it to the front door and I stopped, taking a deep breath.

The quiet dispersed when Godric's cell phone rang. Must be Richard, since I left the number with him.

"Go in, I will catch up with you." And he sped off to take the call before I could say that I needed someone to hold my hand. Damn it!

 _Breathe. Just breathe. It's gonna be ok. Sam isn't going to hate you and everyone will be glad you are back. Or they'll scream and accuse you of being a ghost or a monster. Then Sam will attack Godric with a pool stick and find himself dead. Yup. That could also happen._

"Go on in there Sookie! Just do it. Walk on through that door. Come on now." I shrugged my shoulders a few times to get myself energized while I gave myself the pep talk. Putting one foot in front of the other I reached and opened the door.

It was surreal as I remembered how difficult it had been to keep everyone's thoughts out on a Saturday night. Now I felt like a regular old human, wondering what everyone was thinking. Not relying on my gift, I scouted out the bar looking for my family and friends.

"Sookie!?" Arlene was standing in front of me, having come over to take another customer to their seat. She dropped her tray and the empty glasses crashed to the floor, bringing everyone's attention to us. _Yay first impressions!_

The bar's drinking, chewing and talking slowed to a halt. Instead of looking around, I carefully stepped over the glass and hugged Arlene's frozen body. She returned the hug tentatively and as I let her go, tears formed in her eyes, immediately making them red-rimmed.

"Oh honey, I thought you were dead. Where have you been?"

"I can talk about that later, I'm here now and I'm staying, ok?"

"Sook!" I heard his voice from my right and his pace quickened as I turned to look. Jason looked forlorn as he crunched over the glass without care and wrapped me in his arms. "My baby sister. You're alive? You're not a ghost or nothin'?" I laughed.

"No Jason, not a ghost." The room was still dead silent. Drama like this only happened once in a coon's age. Maxine Fortenberry, the designated queen of gossip, rose from her seat and waddled on over.

"Just where have you been missy. This whole town thought you burned right up with your Gran."

"Mrs. Fortenberry, I appreciate your concern, but I'd like to have some privacy with my friends and family for now. I'm sure you'll hear through the grapevine where I was." God I loved telling that woman off. Always competing with Gran, I'm sure it galled her to not be the first to know something. Jason was still hugging me, expressing more physical affection than I'd seen in years from him.

Arlene was done shaking and started bending down to grab the pieces of glass and put them on the tray.

"Oh let me help with that Arlene!" I slid out of Jason's grasp and started to bend down. Less than a couple seconds later I saw the bottom of a broom come into view and behind it stood Sam Merlotte. Arlene and I both stood up and backed away from the mess. Sam didn't look at me as he swept up the glass.

Maxine huffed and walked back to her seat. I didn't need to read her mind to know she was offended.

"I can't believe you Sook. How could you fucking leave and not tell us you ain't dead!" Behind Jason, I heard Tara's unmistakable voice. Jason looked at me and blushed, pulling his arm up over his shoulder to scratch the back of his head as he walked back to where Tara and another guy were sitting.

"Give me a minute and I'll tell you! Sam?"

"Sookie." He looked chastised, like he'd been stealing cookies from the cookie jar and my heart felt a pang of guilt. All this time he knew I was alive and hadn't been able to tell a soul but for Eric Northman. And god knows Eric would never stoop so _low_ as to speak with a shifter on a regular basis. Poor Sam.

"There's a vampire with me, and it ain't you-know-who. I want to make sure you don't freak out."

"After all this time you've been free of him you shack up with a vampire?" He hissed at me, still holding the broom and dustpan with the remnants of the glasses that fell.

"It ain't like that Sam." I was slipping into my southern accent, which had drifted away when I lived in Dallas.

"Don't you dare ignore me Sookie Stackhouse! I need a fucking explanation! Now!" Tara raised her voice and started stomping over. Pulled in all directions, I looked at Arlene, Jason, Sam and Tara in that order.

"Arlene, good to see you. We can talk later. Sam? Behave yourself, he's headed in here shortly. Jason? Let's get back to the table. Tara? Sit down, and we'll talk." The bar was starting to come alive again, but I could feel the eyes slide over me, assessing my presence.

Tara's eyes looked like they wanted to burn a hole right through my head and I felt guilt. We reached the table and each of us took seats. They were all waiting for me to speak and I felt momentary stage fright.

"Hi ya'll."

"I'm Eggs Tallie." The man I didn't know stuck out his hand, looking pleased as punch to meet me. He probably knew nothing about me.

"Sookie Stackhouse." I took it anyway. No reason to not be polite.

"All right bitch. Talk."

"First, you need to know I brought a vampire with." Both Tara and Jason started talking at the same time.

"Shut your mouths and listen!" Their jaws snapped shut.

"He is my friend and has been so for the past year or so. Now, he isn't my boyfriend, but he deserves your respect. And he's also old as dirt, so don't go trying anything."

"Maybe you don't remember the last time you was here Sook, but I remember you was all wrapped up in some bad vampire business. And then you were _dead_ Sook. What were we supposed to think?" Tara wanted to look mad, but that expression fell away and revealed her sadness at losing her best friend.

"I know Tara, Jason, and I'm sorry. For everything. I did leave because of vampires, but I'm stronger now. I can take care of myself and my vampire is one of the oldest and strongest in the country. No one is going to take me away now. Ya hear?" It was a pathetic apology. None would suffice for what happened.

Godric chose that moment to walk into the bar. He had worn a nice button down with some casual jeans, looking like a well dressed teenager. No one noticed him as he walked on over to me after spotting me with my family. Jason moved as if he had hackles to raise and Tara crossed her arms and glared. Eggs sat there, looking bemused by the conversation and why everyone was so upset.

"Hello. You must be Jason and Tara." He held his hand out to Jason as my brother's eyes got wide. Ever the polite southern boy, he grabbed it and shook it up and down like men liked to do. It was funny watching Godric's arm try to imitate and follow Jason's movements. After they let go, Godric extended the same invitation to Tara.

After a silence that was shorter than I expected, Tara unwound her defenses just slightly to take Godric's hand and give it a quick shake. But then it was back to arms crossed and glaring.

"This is Godric everyone." My vampire's charm cranked up and he gave them a wonderful smile that wasn't vampiric in the slightest.

"You don't act like no vamper." Jason always had a way with words.

"You ain't datin' my sister right?" My brother put his arm possessively around me.

"Jason! That is not an appropriate question! And if we dated, it wouldn't any of your business!"

"I have a right to ask Sook! We just got you back and I don't want to lose you to no vampire and see you end up really dead this time. Now don't all go gettin' into my head to make sure I'm giving it to you straight. Ya hear?"

"Jason, I'm not in your head! Besides I only do that when I want to remember why I don't date." I snorted, trying to diffuse the tension with some humor.

"Yeah, well, you get the picture." Tara had been eerily quiet. I could sense her unease and indecision on the matter. Jason wasn't as much a threat as Tara to Godric, so I got into her head real quick.

Her thoughts were that Godric had been kinder than most vampires so far, but he was a vampire. Godric was clearly here to protect me, but he was a vampire. Godric could have eaten me instead of bringing me back, but he was a vampire.

"Godric, would you mind going and having a chat with Sam for a bit?"

"Not at all Sookie." He strolled on up to the bar, human speed. I appreciated how he didn't call attention to himself by vamping around the place. Making sure Godric had a seat at the bar, I turned back to Jason, Tara and Eggs.

Once again Eggs looked like a space cadet. It made me question why Tara was even with him.

"Sookie, I'm gonna call Hoyt. He won't believe it and I'd hate for anyone else to tell 'em." Without waiting for my response, he picked up his phone and strolled away.

"Eggs, would you get me another drink?" Tara drawled out, not taking her eyes away from me.

"Sure." Eggs wandered off to the bar as Tara and I performed a stare-down.

"You gonna fuckin' tell me what happened and why you're back, with a fuckin' vampire no less?"

"Long story short, I ran away because of the vampire situation and made it to Dallas. There I ended up calling the government branch that dealt with Supes. They accepted me in and did some things to hide me from the vampires. I met some good friends there and we worked for the SSS together. Including Godric. Now Tara, I gotta tell you, I'm not entirely human."

"You don't look like a vampire." She said disbelievingly.

"There's more than vampires Tara, but it isn't important right now. What is, is that I'm done working for the SSS and looking to settle back in here." I was also listening to what Sam and Godric were now saying to one another.

 _Sookie don't need none of your kind in her life anymore. So you best be moving on if you want to do what's good for her._ Sam and his overprotectiveness. I was going to have to correct his perception of me.

"Even with big and bad hanging around still?" My friend raised an eyebrow, daring me to address that little issue.

 _Shifter, I consider myself her father and as such, it is my place to tell you that you will do right by her and trust her judgement._ Be still my heart. Godric knew just where my cry-button was and he was getting close to pressing it.

"I can handle him now. And if he decides he wants to be handled, he'll be regretin' it." My eyes narrowed and Tara looked a little frightened by the look on my face.

"You're different." She said simply.

 _If you do, then you need to be ready to defend her from the king and his people._ Sam continued.

"Very, but also still the same. Ain't nothing has changed the way I feel about my family. And you are my family, along with Godric."

 _I am over 2,000 years old shifter and I am known as 'Death'. No one will dare touch her lest they wish to deal with my wrath._

"I'm just hoping you're ready to deal with that vampire. He's been looking for you and hasn't stopped. Comes into Merlotte's every so often. When he finds out you're here…" Godric didn't have a monopoly when it came to kicking ass. If there was some pale, undead butt to be kicked I'd be getting my shots in first.

"I'll be teaching him a thing or two about mindin' his own business." I smirked, relishing the thought of besting Eric Northman in combat with Godric watching. He'd be proud of me.

"Ok, fuck if I know how you're going to accomplish all that. But if you say you got it… At least that vampire will back you up." I smiled then, taking her limited acceptance of Godric as a step in the right direction.

"So what happened to my land then?"

" _He_ bought it and built a big house on there. Sometimes the vampires have parties there, I've heard. No one goes near the place anymore." I hissed and I could see that Tara looked shocked at my reaction. Normal people glowered and said that they were upset. But nope, I was spittin' and hissin' like the supe I was.

"Is Lala here?" A change of subject was needed before I popped right on over to Fangtasia and gave Eric Northman a piece of my mind.

"In the kitchen." I walked on over to collect Godric from Sam's interrogation.

"Everything all right here?"

"I think we've come to an understanding, haven't we Sam?" Godric smiled gently, not wishing to push the sanity of my former boss any further.

"Yeah, just be careful Sook. Not much has changed." That was his way of saying that Eric was still out to get me without telling anyone else my business. Giving him a nod, I beckoned Godric to follow me to the kitchen.

Lafayette was decked out in a sequined scarf around his head with a leopard patterned apron tied over his clothing, which was likely just as wild as his visible attire.

"Sook what the fuck hookah! You dead, I knows yous dead. Don't you come near me. I ain't here to just let you go on and talk to whoever you want. Yous can wait until after work hookah."

"Laf, what are you talking about? I'm right here. I didn't die in the fire."

"K, now I know yous lying. Now go on and get the fuck up on out of here ghosty Sook. I ain't got nothin' for you." I grabbed his waggling finger out of the air and pulled his arm forward.

"Does that feel like dead to you?" Godric laughed bemusedly behind me.

"Look at him Sookie. Ante. See."

I flipped my sight back on and noticed he was haloed in yellow and surrounded by ethereal faces clamoring around his head. Sometimes little hands would try and pry at the surface of his aura, looking to get in.

"Oh Lala. You must be so tired with all of those things trying to get in." Letting go of his hand, I tried not to cry. Now I noticed the bags under his eyes, his skittishness and his generally infectious mood dull with stress.

"You ain't dead? And who is that" He looked at me, as if he was really seeing me now. When his eyes rested on Godric he looked sick to his stomach.

"No I'm here, and don't worry about Godric behind me. Lala, we gotta figure out a way to get those things to leave you alone! "

"You see them?" He looked astounded.

"Yeah, they're trying to get inside you! What are they?"

"Ghosts, hookah. They been tryin' to get inside for months now. Never should a mess'd with that wiccan bull-shit."

"We'll figure it out, I promise Laf. I'd like you to meet Godric though. He's a very good friend."

 _Oh shit. I ain't dealing V no mo. Why does Eric Northman gots send someone all up in here? I'm done with that shi-at. And all thems sex dreams of the Viking… I just want this to be ov'ah._

"You got in trouble Laf?" I didn't want to say out loud that he'd been dealing V. Godric and I had never talked about it before, so I didn't know how he'd react.

"Yeah, and he's here to remind me not'ta get in that again. I'm sorry, I been good and off of it for a long while now and I turned in every dealer who come knockin' at my door."

"I'm not here to punish you. I am a friend of Sookie. Your relationship with the Sheriff is your business." Lafayette's thoughts melted into a pile of gooey relief that he wasn't about to die.

"How about you come hang out with us when you're done in the kitchen Laf? Godric and I are going to stick around here for a bit." Lafayette started tearing up.

"Hookah don't you ever leave like that again. You've ruined my mascara enough times!" He delicately caught each tear before it took the black makeup with it.

"I'm sorry Laf. You know why I left. But I'm back now, and I have Godric to help protect me."

"You best be protecting my bitch!" Lafayette looked straight at Godric and pointed at him.

"I will protect your friend yes, but I must request that you stop referring to her as a dog in heat and a prostitute." Godric's eyes darkened and Lafayette took a step back.

"Godric, no, it's fine. It's just a joke. He doesn't think of me that way at all. Just a human thing is all." My hands were on Godric's arm, trying to reassure him of the truth in my words. When he met my eyes he relaxed and again addressed Lafayatte.

"If Sookie says this is true, it is true." Godric shrugged and gave Lafayette a smile.

"Yous the strangest vampire I have _eva_ met. And I am glad you belong to Sook, because she sure as shit gonna need yo' ass to take care'a her. I gots ta get cookin' hookah. See you when I'm done." I looked once more and saw the spirits still crowding around his head. Poor Laf.

"Hey Sam, I think we're gonna stick around for a bit. That ok with you?"

"Yeah, sure. You want a true blood Godric?"

"Yes, thank you." Sam went over to the cooler to grab one and popped it in the microwave. We waited by the bar until it was warmed and ready before going back to Tara and Jason. Hoyt had showed up in the meantime and gave me a warm hug.

"Hi there sir, very nice to meet you." Hoyt seemed surprisingly happy to meet Godric.

"And I you. I am Godric."

"I'm tryna' get to know ya'lls kind. I met this girl and she's the prettiest I've ever seen, and she's a vamper, excuse me, vampire. I really like her and I don't want to screw it up being all ignorant or bigoted. Ya'll were human once too." I loved Hoyt's honesty. He had never thought anything bad about me and always tried to avoid thinking sexual thoughts of me. If he weren't Jason's best friend, Maxine's son and just overall not my type I would have dated him. He wasn't quite dumb, but he was too simple for me. And like everyone else, he wanted to pretend I couldn't read minds.

"I wish you well in this endeavor. I am sure she will see your efforts and appreciate them." Godric was generous in his praise, but I knew he meant it. He had been astounded that I'd given him a chance and he was more than flattered that another human was willing to do the same.

"Aww sir, that's real nice of you to say. Thank you." He was blushing now and backed up to stand next to Jason.

"A round of pool anyone?" Jason was already three sheets to the wind and declined. Tara was terrified of playing pool with Godric. Hoyt was feeling shy while Eggs was wanting to get laid tonight and figured he better play along with Tara's mood.

"Well all right then. Godric and I are going to have a good time, even if ya'll won't!" Hooking my arm in his we went over to the open pool table next to some rednecks. They watched us with open interest. Probably not realizing that Godric was a vampire, not a teenager.

"I have played this game a few times. You will not win." Godric snatched a pool cue and stalked the table.

"Oh really? With my light guidin' me, I think I am gonna wipe the floor with you."

"You would use me to clean the floor?" Godric looked perturbed at that thought.

"No, no silly. It's a phrase that means I'm going to win, and make you look bad doin' it!"

Having no response to my trash talk, I racked the balls and offered him the break. Four solid balls immediately went into some pockets and none of the striped ones. He didn't have to call it and he moved to the cue ball to take another shot.

After sinking everything, including the 8 ball, without an ounce of slop, I was jumping up and down inside waiting for my turn.

Saying nothing, I racked them up again and proceeded to imitate Godric's overwhelming victory. When I sunk the 8, I noticed that we had a few observers in the form of the rednecks behind us.

"Ya'll sure know how to play."

 _Must be her little brother. A fine piece of ass ain't running around with a boy. She needs a man._

"I don't _need_ nothin', and he ain't my brother." I was done pretending that I couldn't read people's minds. After living a life where I was respected by my team and Richard for my talents, I wasn't going back to being treated like I was garbage because of my gift.

"Is there a problem here?" Godric picked that moment to vamp over to me and bare his fangs at the 'gentleman' in front of us.

 _Fuckin' vamp! Fangbangin' whore._

"Call me a whore again Jake, and find out what happens." No reason to hold back anymore, I let my light appear in my hand and held it up in the air showing him I meant business.

"What the fuck, fuck! Let's get the hell outta here." Jake and his equally unsavory friend ran out of the door lickety split. The bar was silent again wondering what had happened. Most hadn't seen my hand, and if they did they considered it a trick of the light. But they certainly noticed Godric's fangs, that's for sure.

Jason and Tara took the opportunity to walk over and attempt to diffuse the situation.

"What'd he do Sook?" Jason was looking me up and down making sure I was still put together. His concern was sweet.

"They were just thinkin' bad things about me. Calling me names in their heads." Tara and Jason both stiffened. We'd never really talked much about my gift directly.

"Look, I know I always tried to hide it from ya'll by never addressin' it being real, even if you knew I could. But this ain't a curse, it's a blessing. I'm not hiding it anymore. I made a lot of money with the government for what I can do." It was funny, at the mention of being able to make good money they both let their shoulders drop. If it was a skill that you could use at a job, it was 'normal'.

"No one calls my sister names! What'd you say they said? I know that Jake and his friends and I can go and find them, tell them what's what."

"Jason, they called me a fangbaning whore, but ultimately that's their business. As long as they don't come thinkin' it near me anymore, I'm fine." My brother and friend looked irate at that and Jason, who was definitely trashed now, turned around and addressed the bar.

"Anyone else who want to call my baby sister a whore answers to me. Ya'll understand? Don't bother runnin' 'n hidin' if you say it when I ain't here. I'll find ya and we can decide who the real man is! And it ain't gonna-" At that point both Tara and I grabbed Jason and turned him around again. I noticed several women lean in to listen to Jason defending his sister. It was always hard to try and get Jason to not let the world revolve around his dick. But sometimes it seemed if the world did just that. Who am I to fight the facts?

Sam picked that moment to wander over and try to diffuse the situation.

"Hey, hey. It's ok now. And don't worry, it was a good performance. The bar just thinks you were defendin' Sook from being called names, Jason. And that's normal. But Sook you can't just react to what people are thinking now. Now I know things were different in Dallas, but these people haven't changed since you left. You know?"

"Daughter, he is right. Though it pains me to hear of you being insulted. In the future I will take the enmity of your townsfolk so you will not have to bear it."

"Ok, Sam, you have a point. But Godric, I can defend myself! I don't need you dropping fangs every time someone does something crude!"

"I will not if you will not."

 _Got me there vampire._

My people were looking at me, waiting on my answer, except Jason who was making eyes at a pretty brunette in a booth with her boyfriend. Blurry eyes, but apparently that was enough for some.

"Fine! Fine, I won't make a scene from now on. Promise!"

"Good, now I have to get back to the bar. I'm closing the kitchen right now and letting Lafayette go early tonight." Sam winked at me and walked back to his drink tickets from the servers and a few empty-glassed patrons.

"Looks like ya'll have recruited Godric to the "manage-sookie" club."

"If you wasn't in such bad trouble everywhere you go now, we wouldn't need no club." Tara raised her eyebrow at me.

"Not like you've been the one to deal with the vampires that keep looking for you." She continued.

"Who is looking for Sookie?" Godric's predatory nature started coming out again and Tara gulped and looked at me for advisement.


	25. Chapter 25

Trigger warning: torture.

"Godric, no. We'll deal with it later after we're established here. I know we can handle this." My hand went up to Godric's chest as I tried to draw his eyes and fangs away from Tara's words.

"Who?" He continued coldly, looking very much the picture of death. Tara backed up a few steps in fear.

"You're scaring Tara! Let's just wait for now. I'll tell you after we meet your child, ok? I don't want us running off now to deal with this!"

"Very well. I realize your gift will make you a target. If your pursuers are still looking to get ahold of you, they will need to be made an example of. On this, I will not compromise." Godric's fangs retracted and he dropped his 'I'll kill you slowly and painfully' face and settled into an expression that was more distant, but still predatory.

"I agree. Absolutely. I'll help you." I hugged him, and he slowly reciprocated, tucking his face into my shoulder and lightly purring. I could feel Sam and Tara's eyes on my back and hear the thoughts of people in the bar. Shock.

 _A vampire was hugging a human. That's right. You heard it. Hugging._

Letting go of Godric, I looked at Tara. Her face had mixed emotions crossing it.

"You gotta understand Tara, he's just here to protect me. He cares about me and he wasn't going to hurt you."

 _He coulda killed me. But he must love Sook. Even I know vampires don't ever show a shred of affection. He must be different. And she's gonna need all the help she can get with Eric Northman and king Bill. I'm crazy for even considering that this vampire should be sticking around. But he actually listened to her instead of doing what he wanted, unlike some vampires. She probably don't know how all of Bon Temp knows that Eric is looking for her. God I hope he don't find her and if he does that Godric stays with her._

"I don't believe he wouldn't hurt me, but I can see he would only do it if it you was gonna be hurt." Tara's thoughts were disturbing, though her words were polite and nonchalant. I had thought that by leaving they would be upset, but that it would blow over because Bill was the king now. As for Eric Northman, I was kind of thrilled at the idea that he was still looking out for me. I knew Niall wouldn't give up, but he didn't have anything to do with vampires.

Niall. Crap. Worry about that later.

"Tara, don't worry, we'll take care. Let's just have a good time tonight for another hour or so, ok?"

And we did. Lafayette came out and brightened up everyone's day, though it tore me up to look at him with Ante and see those ghosts hovering around him.

Tara, Laf and Godric got to talking as Tara got a little more intoxicated while Lala played catch up. Eggs sat there patiently while Godric made my friends laugh with stories of what fangbangers would do to be close to vampires. He had said that at one point he found a human sleeping against the door of his day rest room. As he stood staring at her, the alarm on her phone went off and she jerked her head up. Spotting Godric, she had asked if he was hungry, while she tried to look coy. It didn't help that her hair had rubbed against the floor where she had slept and her eyeliner had lost its solid lines from sleep. Her question was all it took for Godric to vamp away from her. Apparently she had been pining after Godric for some time, but Godric was oblivious.

His rejection of her didn't stop the woman from pursuing Godric. Since he was unwilling to do anything to harm her by glamor or force, he had unwittingly encouraged her. Well, now he knew better, but at the time he was convinced if he treated her with respect while showing her disinterest, as a regular human would, she would leave well enough alone. But she continued to chase, convinced that because he hadn't acted like a normal lust-crazy vampire, he most definitely cared and wanted to feed from her.

Finally Stan Davis took pity on Godric after 3 months of the 2,000 year old vampire having to sleep outside of the nest to get away from the fangbanger, and glamored the woman to leave.

The idea of a vampire-crazed woman chasing a very powerful vampire around had both humans in stitches. It wasn't that funny of a story, but Godric was a good story teller and was acting every bit like the bewildered but now chastised protagonist. Also, did I mention they were drunk?

I think Lafayette found it even funnier than Tara, having had such opposing experiences with Eric.

Jason had slipped away sometime in the past hour and I saw the boyfriend of the woman from the booth wandering around the hallway to the bathroom looking worried. I wondered who was going to be brave enough to tell the man what really happened.

"How are you all getting home now?" It was almost bar close and Tara and Laf were singing some jukebox song while Godric watched them attentively, fascinated by the camaraderie he had been invited into. Eggs had left some time ago, resigned to the fact that Tara wouldn't be finding her way into his bed tonight.

"We was gonna take my car, but then you bring this good lookin' vampire up in her' and then he tells us stories I ain't _neva_ heard from the un-dead and you expect me 'ta not have a good time? Mmm mm hookah."

"What he fuckin' said." Tara quipped.

"Guess we're driving you home then."

"Sookie, my son is becoming… agitated. Perhaps we can leave their cars for today and you can help them get to where they need to be tomorrow?"

"Yeah, sure Godric. Ya'll ready to go?"

"Wait now baby girl, yous didn't drive here?"

"Nope. And just you wait and see how I'm getting you guys home." I winked, got up and walked over to the bar.

"Sam, whata' I owe ya?"

"Godric took the tab a long time ago." Sam grinned, knowing how that would irk me. I snaked my head around and whispered in Godric's direction.

"High-handed vampire." I was rewarded with a twitch of his lip as he still watched Tara and Lafayette, who had gone back to crooning to themselves.

"You'll be coming around more Cher?"

"I think so Sam." I smiled in relief that my old life was salvageable and I was doing a good job of integrating the new one into it.

"And Godric is welcome anytime you know. He's good, for a vampire." Even though it was a backhanded compliment, it was a victory. Sam was graced with my warmest smile and I leaned over the bar to hug him. He returned it gently, my knowing that he both missed me, was upset I had left, frustrated that he had to keep it secret for so long and still suffering a pang of longing for something more.

"Thanks Sam."

"Don't mention it. Now why don't you get them two troublemakers home." I nodded and walked back over.

"You'll pay for that Godric. Or rather, I will. Just you wait!"

"Oh shee-at. We gots ta pay Sam." Laf almost tumbled off the stool and Godric was there to take his hand and steady him instantly.

"It's been taken care of. Your company has been a pleasure." At that Lala reevaluated Godric and gave him the once, then twice over.

"You know, if yous ever wanna come over to _my_ house, yous welcome." Lafayette pointed at Godric and bent his body back as he followed up with. "MmmmMMM, yes you is."

"I do believe you're propositioning me. When we see each other next, I will not hold this against you." In his typical Godric way, he was respectful and offering his care in the best way he knew how, which was keeping humans away from his vampire nature.

"Why don't ya take several words outta dat and just leave 'I hold ya.' I likes that a lot betta." The vampire laughed.

"Lala, you stop hitting on my vampire while you're drunk! Besides I don't even know if he swings that way!"

"He just have ta' swing Lala's way, which is differen' than swinging." His finger traced a circle in the air as did his head while he was in the throes of pointing out a critical, and fabulous difference between swinging and...

"Because have'n Lala…"

"Lafayette!" I shrieked as he started escalating. I knew from how many times we had hung out that it just got more graphic.

"We're leaving before you say anymore things on that dirty mind of yours!"

I couldn't believe Godric didn't find my friend's behavior repugnant. I guess while he was Godric with me, I thought he'd be a vampire with everyone else. But it wasn't the case. I knew he was more attached to these people because they were my friends, but he didn't _have_ to give them a chance. He was, and I started feeling the urge to cry.

I grabbed Tara and Lafayette's arms and started leading them towards the door. We made it there slowly so as not to trip the stumbling cousins on the way out. The parking lot was mostly empty for which I was thankful. It meant I didn't have to hide to portal out of here.

Muninn kraa'd and flew down to land on my shoulder.

"Holy fuck, what the fuck is that crow doin' up at 2am! Jesus fuck!" Tara let go of me and backed up. Lafayette shook his head and started muttering.

"None of this supernatural shit. No mo of dis. I can't take none of it. Crows just popping up in the middle of the night like some god damn omen landin' on people. Mmm mmmm. Nope."

"Guys, it's ok. His name is Muninn and he's my pet. He's actually a nixe, but you can't see it right now. Like a tiny fairy raven. He looks like a regular Raven though. Don't worry, he doesn't bite!"

 _I hope._

Godric bravely walked over and started stroking the bird. It didn't peck at him, lending further credit to the fact that the raven wouldn't hurt a fly. He actually might though, but that was beside the point.

"Ok guys, you have to reach over here and take my hands. You want to go to your place Lala? Both of you?"

"Sure Sook, but there ain't no car and I ain't walkin'."

"Look you two, just come on over here and take my hands, ok?" After hearing some "pssshhh'ing and 'fuck this's, they walked over and took my hands, both eying up the bird cautiously. Godric laid his hand around my waist and nodded.

And then we were on Lafayette's porch.

"What the-"

"The fuck is-"

"That's my fuckin' house!"

"Sook that's crazy. What the fuck was that Sook? You trying to kill us?"

"Cut it out guys! You're home, you're safe and I can come get you tomorrow. It's just a fairy thing."

"Fairy? There's fairies now? I am nope'ing the fuck out of this shit. Sook we can hang at any time, but don't get me involved in no fairy shit. Vampires are enough."

"Oh we're not like vampires at all. Most times." I winced. We were pretty bitchy creatures on the whole. Being tough to kill gave most fairies a superiority complex.

"I needs some time to think about this. Im'a process it the only way I know how. Pills and mary jane. See you lata hookah. Call me tomorrow biatch." Lafayette threw up his hands and opened his door. Tara was left standing there with Godric, Muninn and I, looking back and forth between us.

"I'm still your best friend and all. Even though you've been away. Even though you some kind of fuckin' crazy ass supernatural thing. But before you do something like that again, I gotta fuckin' know what it is before you fuckin' just do it. You hear me Sook?"

"Yes. You're right, I should have said something before we all got drunk, but I was scared ya'll wouldn't be my friends if I told you how I've changed. Can you forgive me?" It was not surprising that I was reacting needy towards Tara's anger, but it was intense how badly I felt about surprising them like that. I thought my powers were great now, but I had forgotten the times when I was holding on to my human side at the expense of being who I truly was. I had time to grieve that person, and my friends needed time to get to know this new person and grieve the old Sookie too.

"Sure I can, but we're gonna talk real soon. Ok bitch?"

"Yeah, let me give you my number." I pulled out my phone and called her phone so she had it on her ID. We bid her goodnight and teleported back to Godric's place.

***Eric***

It was excruciating. Waiting for Godric was a pain unto my existence. Pam had fled to the site of the upcoming Midsummer Ball in order to stay away from me until I left to visit Godric. Even Willa had wised up enough to not approach me in any fashion.

As a distraction, I took the time to enthrall the vermin. It was fucking obnoxious how they loved my cold and ruthless exterior. The angrier I was, the more time they wasted staring at me, drinking their cheap booze and sweating out the alcohol as they danced. I could feel their arousal like having to cut through mud; filthy, weak-willed, desperate. Vermin.

"Would you like a drink? I'm willing to do _anything_ to please you." My eyes lazily trailed up the body of the pile of shit that stood in front of me. Objectively, she was pretty. But her proposition made me feel like stepping on gum stuck to the sidewalk and it attaching to my shoe as I tried to walk away. Not that I ever had, vampiric sight and scent being what it gum and the woman ere dirty, used, and thrown away only to be picked up by another's shoe.

Quickly vamping to her, I snaked my hand around her to clutch the back of her neck and extended my fangs. Looking deeply into her eyes, I saw her pathetic excitement. I whispered softly.

"Leave with your friends. You are done for the night. After this you will be through with vampires and you will never ask one to feed on you again. Get your life together. Pay your fucking bills, go to school, find a _nice_ human to be with. Don't be a fucking idiot and tempt a monster ever again."

"Yes." I turned her by her neck and walked her down the steps leading up to my throne, shoving her sharply into her friends. They giggled and pulled their hands over their mouths as they did so. The great Eric Northman had touched one of their friends! Fucking morons with a death wish.

Back on my throne I started up my thoughts on Godric. He had sent through the bond his love, but his characteristic feeling of "wait". There was no way I would pull rank on my own maker and call him to check in this very night, but he sorely tempted me. I had yet to solidify my plans to kill Isabel though I was close to a foolproof solution. It was difficult to determine if she had been part of the reason Godric was as he is now. Whoever it was, I wanted to maim and then viciously murder the person who had kept him from me for so long. Surely it was a someone, not a something. Even if it had been the latter at one time.

There were very few scenarios that I could come up with where the person who had a hold over Godric had good intentions. It could be multiple people, working to keep Godric in check. But if it had been a trap, Godric would have willingly died before giving me up by calling me. He had done this before. Sent me the call to stay away. Those times I had come anyway, pulling in favors to help him escape in the few times he needed to do so. The same had always been done for me by him.

The knowledge of Godric's trustworthy behavior and him keeping the bond closed for so long over another person did not seem reconcilable. Whoever it was, I would be watching him or her. Or them. It was hard to imagine that Godric was under the thrall of another and didn't know, but it was a possibility I couldn't discount.

I felt Willa give me a quick, urgent tug at the bond. I turned my gaze to her, wholly fucking irritated.

"Master, feeding, in the men's bathroom." By asking me to look at her, she was able to keep her voice low enough that not every vampire could hear. I sped away from my throne, looking forward to killing the vampire who dared feed in my bar, very, very slowly.

In the men's stall I could smell a messy and quick feed. The human was moaning as the vampire sloppily sucked away. Silent, I waited until the vampire unlatched so as not to damage the human. Hearing the quick two licks that signaled a wound-seal I flew over the side of the stall and quickly grabbed the vampire by the shoulders, pulling him out and over.

Rage boiled inside of me as I wrenched him away, dragging him through the crowd and to the basement. Only the vampires noticed, and I caught a few smiles at the thought of my torturing someone tonight. It had been some time since I had made someone scream and beg to die, and tonight I was in the mood to try a few new techniques that Pam and I had discussed, but had not gotten the chance to test together. Pam would forgive me for using a few new ideas without her.

I shackled the vampire where Willa had been previously. Quickly I slid open a set of wooden doors that were covering the wall in front of the restraints. Tiny sealed bags were pinned to a cork board that was floor to ceiling and as wide as the two doors. It was a teaser of what was meant to come.

Inside each bag was a pair of fangs. I had a great many of them at this point. Occasionally I would show them off to particular vampires who I knew to be spies or otherwise ones I wanted to make it clear to that I was not to be fucked with.

The revelation had the desired effect on my prisoner. The howling started as well as the pathetic apologies and pleading. I hadn't even brought out the appetizer, only having set the table.

"When you chose to ignore the rules of _my_ club, were you ignorant or brave?"

"I didn't, I didn't think."

Sob.

"That it would, I thought it would be."

Another sob.

"We were quick, and I thought."

Bawling.

"No one would notice…" I made no move but to open my mouth to speak.

"Has anyone ever told you that discretion is the better side of valor? Hmm? No? That's really too bad. Is your maker still alive?"

"N-no. He…"

"Stop talking, that's all I needed to know." One change I had made was that the shackles were attached to a bar and not the ceiling. The bar had two chains on either side linking to a single chain in the middle that went up to what could be considered curtain tracks that were designed to hold 400+ lbs of weight being pushed around on it. The piece that held the contraption inside the tracks allowed for the whole ensemble to spin. Disorientation was terrifying for vampires.

"Do you want me to describe what is going to happen to you?"

"Please let me go, I'm so sorry, I'll never do it again. I'll work for you for the rest of my life."

"Hmm. I will consider it." I was not considering it at all.

"Oh thank you! Thank you! I'll do whatever you say!"

"I have come to the conclusion, that no, I do not want you here in my bar in any capacity. Nor my fucking area." I took the knife I had been holding and sliced the femoral arteries on both legs. The beginnings of all torture started with a good bleed. Many vampires fell prey to utilizing their sheer strength and power to overwhelm and beat their 'guests' into talking. But torture served a variety of purposes, the most important of which was to act as a deterrent to other vampires misbehaving in my area.

After the incident involving Sookie those years ago that almost resulted in a raid, I had made it very clear that one fang out of line would be the death of that vampire. And here was my fang.

After cutting the arteries I reached for my silver spray and coated each wound to keep it open for longer.

"You see, you're in a very dangerous situation here. If you had something I wanted, which you don't, I would be kinder in order to get the information necessary. Instead, I have all the time in the world to make an example of you." Great wracking sobs were coming from his body and I slung my fist into his sternum to stop them momentarily. I quickly shoved a wad of cloth into his mouth. We kept them available for such purposes.

"Bite down now. It will help with the pain." Part of breaking is to feed them crumbs of care. In the midst of the greatest hurt, any foothold into security will cause the mind to last longer and break harder when it did. Each gentle word acted as a promise that would be broken.

For my next trick, I used the ankle shackles we had on the floor. They were connected by a single chain that could be pulled tight to keep legs from kicking. Locking him in and stretching his body until it was taut, I turned and grabbed a solid metal stick and heated the end of it. I had noticed that enough blood had been lost by the fact that his wounds on his legs were not closing at all and his chest was mottled with new bruises from my assault. Turning around, I grabbed his nose and clamped his nostrils down, cauterizing it with the rod. The burning flesh of vampires was an aroma that struck fear into all of our kind.

Heating the rod again, I went to work on his ears and then I quickly plucked out his eyes to spare him the burning sensation there. Once he was deprived of his senses I unshackled his feet. And then I started spinning.

I had the piece that allowed for the spinning tested with a whole pig to ensure nothing would break. The vampire had stopped screaming and whimpering, but it could have just been the fact that he no longer could make those noises while he turned in incredibly fast circles.

Stopping him abruptly I asked him if he knew which way he was facing. He didn't answer at first so I stabbed his shoulder with a silver knife and he screamed into his cloth but made the noise "nnnn nnnn" which I took to be a no, that he had no idea which way he was facing.

Pam, being the scientist when it came to punishment, had made up a laminated copy of an equation we had worked out to keep a vampire alive and in pain but unable to escape because of weakness.

It had been reduced to a chart wherein you could take the vampire's age and size to calculate how much silver they could handle in their body, how much blood you would need to give them intravenously in order to combat the effects of silver or otherwise keep the vampire alive for longer. We had special ordered a machine that managed the injection process for both silver and blood. While Pam preferred this because it allowed her to be lazy, I would only use the blood option the machine offered and exact the punishment of silver myself.

In this case, I had a silver speculum that I used to keep open a wound on the stomach. I would then place a piece of silver inside the body of the vampire and leave it there. The opening would not heal and the body had no energy to push out the silver. But given enough blood the vampire would not die.

I completed this process now and sat back, admiring my handiwork before continuing upstairs. Finding my way to the office, I stripped and put on a new pair of pants and shirt after wiping away the splotches of blood. Humans would not have noticed the smell, but a vampire could.

The patrons of Fangtasia parted ways before me as I ascended to my throne once more. Instead of my bloodlust being abated, I felt piqued. I supposed that I should feed and fuck before meeting Godric, but I didn't want him to smell fucking on me which would show him how little control over my emotions I had over our separation.

Godric had always taught me to not let our emotions rule. They were the pathway to death.

Just as suddenly as it had been closed, the call came through the bond. My body lurched inside and I sped out the door and into the sky.

***Sookie***

"Now, let us talk about my child. Yes?" Muninn had come in with us and was hopping around in his nixe form, fluttering from couch to floor with ease. Quite the entertaining creature.

"He's on his way now?"

"Yes, and he should be here in fifteen minutes. Do you have any questions?"

"Nope." I popped my 'p', ready to get this show on the road.

Godric then shot up to his feet and looked wildly towards the door to the patio.

"Something is in the woods. Not vampire, or Were."

"Fairy?" I said uneasily, picking up on Godric's very real concern.

"No. Something I have not scented in a long time. Stay. My child will be with you shortly. Tell him that I am looking for something similar to the story of my time in St. Petersburg."

"That's pretty cryptic. You sure he'll know what I'm talking about?"

"Yes. I must go." The patio door made one big sliding noise as he was in and out of the house. My raven flew up to sit on my shoulder and I pet him, cooing about how he was a 'pretty bird'. He seemed to like it.

It was ten minutes into my wait for Godric when I heard the woosh of someone abruptly standing by the outside door and the whirr of the lock opening itself via the fingerprint control pad. For a second I was concerned that Godric's child might attack me, but I assured myself I'd be able to pop away.

When the door opened and revealed the vampire who stood there, my whole body underwent paralysis.


	26. Chapter 26

I have to say, you guys are good at predicting this story based on your reviews. :)

Thanks Suzy Meinen for being my beta!

Lot's of new followers, feel free to review! It really does help me figure out what people like. :)

He was fast, snatching me up from the couch and crushing me in his arms. I was still frozen, but when I felt the hardness of his muscles and the press of his hips against my belly I couldn't help but shiver. His eyes widened at my movement and his expression morphed into one of self-satisfaction. 1,000 years of practice showing a girl what he had to offer _would_ be that effective at drawing me in.

Dressed in a black tank top and leather pants, his clothes hugged him in all the right ways. It made me wonder what his ass looked like in these pants. Looking up at him, I tried to be calm and in control. He may be a vampire, but I was a fae and we were at least equals.

I knew that my reaction was inexplicable. We'd been apart for a few years, and while I'd gotten stuck on him mentally it wasn't the same thing as falling for him in person. I'd built up a persona, an idea of him. And maybe it was accurate. I had access to the SSS' database and had pulled all the information we had on him. But it was also possible that it was regret that tugged at my heart; that I had judged him based on Bill's actions. That because of Bill, Eric was less trustworthy and worthwhile, though it wasn't true. If Eric had been the first vampire I had met, and Bill wasn't on the scene himself, I might have listened to Eric about needing help and protection from Sophie-Anne.

Even though I had broken the blood bond with Eric, some part of him had always lingered inside me. It wasn't like I knew where he was or could feel his emotions like a vampire could with a human. It was more like a lock-down on my life. I hadn't been particularly attracted to anyone during my time away, unless they reminded me of Eric. I'd been faithful to a memory of a person and a relationship that I'd never had. I'd daydreamed about him more than was normal for such a short time of interaction between us.

He had wanted a bond with me when I was in Bon Temp. Most vampires avoided a bond, and those that didn't used it to keep assets. Never once did I get the impression that Eric intended to use me like Bill and Sophie-Anne would have. All of this had taken a lot of analyzation on my part, and slow processing of the fact that Eric had _not_ been the enemy and his interest was _not_ necessarily associated with my powers. In fact, he seemed to enjoy banter and being stubborn as much as I did. Vampires were often entertained by sex and violence, but Eric wasn't one-dimensional in that way. If he was, he would have made sure he was king, not Bill. A king has access to all the finest donors and has carte blanche on many acts of savagery. It did not seem like Eric to care about that more than his freedom. But I guess I knew that from his files too, that he avoided positions of power.

"Why, hello _lover_. What brings you to these parts?" His tone was cocky, like he had just won five stuffed animals in a row from the claw crane game. I studied the curve of his smile, his scandinavian nose, jawline and his intense, stormy eyes. The kind of storm that made you simultaneously want to run for shelter and look out the window to watch it rage. The kind of eyes that I could dive into and not rise, happily. It was funny, the human in me anticipated some kind of physical change in him that I consciously knew wouldn't be there. He was the same beautiful man who had saved me from Bill and had defended my home and person as best he could.

He took a deep sniff, his eyes narrowing and fangs peeking out from under his lip. His jealousy was palpable. He had no right to be, but the thought of his possessiveness caused my body to pulse anyway, my feelings and core leaking desire. I wanted to be be angry that he was on me like white on rice, since no one else had ever been allowed so close. All the reasons I previously had for not wanting to speak to or see him seemed silly in retrospect. I'd told myself that he wouldn't care, or be interested in the same way. That he'd moved on. But here he was, so handsome, and after all this time he _seemed_ to still consider me worthwhile.

In this moment it was easy remembering his bite, where he had been interested and attentive even amidst the chaos of the constant attacks. It made me hopeful. But I also recognized that vampires were wrapped up in a world of reputation as it related to power and the ability to control their territory and pawns in it, whether they be vampire, human, Were or otherwise. Vampire nature directly conflicted with the fae, who were similarly possessive and expecting of power. This would be a major source of conflict. I had the right to smell however I wished, but in the vampire world it was verboten to be physically associated with any other besides the vampire who owned you.

"You smell of Godric, shifter and other humans." Even knowing I didn't want to be owned, I quickly integrated their scents into my cloaking just to make him feel better.

"I don't belong to you." I spat impulsively. Thinking aside, my mind and body couldn't decide on a feeling; aroused, afraid, doubtful, dominant or angry. It kept switching back and forth like it was channel surfing. My fae side had its own ideas about relationships, hierarchy and sex. It boiled down to being his better, as a royal fae. He should belong to me, not the other way around. Human Sookie was afraid but curious, having been reminded of the last time I had last been here. Being aroused was the only feeling both sides of me agreed on. Six plus feet of viking will do that to you.

"I used to live here you know, so my coming back shouldn't be so much of a surprise. My friends and family are here, and I'm looking to settle back in and having my _own_ life." My words came streaming out as they always did when I was confronted. It didn't matter what I felt in the moment typically. I knew I was as stubborn as a mule.

I said one thing and did another; I moved a millimeter or two closer to feel the tiniest amount more of him. My body was such a filthy traitor…

"You belonged to me once. You're so sure you won't again?" Though his grip became less crushing, he amped up the Eric Northman Seduction Experience by twirling one piece of my hair and using his other hand to press firmly on the top of my tail bone, pulling me closer. Fate would have it that he was… ample. A gracious plenty that I could feel right through his leather pants, which he would have to be very hard to accomplish such a feat. The SSS did _not_ have that in their files.

The insides of my thighs twitched and I wanted to know what he felt like wrapped between my legs.

 _Yup, Sookie-the-nun wants to pull an Amelia. So glad she's not here to whoop and cheer me on to the bedroom._

The landslide hit, realization crashing down on my head.

"You are Godric's child?!"

"Yes." And like that, the feelings of revelation hit him just as hard. He stepped back and schooled his face to vampire-neutral. I knew exactly what he was thinking.

"You are with him." His voice was almost flat, with only a wisp of a tremor in his words. I'd never seen a vampire show any amount of emotion, but he did. His voice wavered slightly, and his attempt at controlling his expression was an 8 out of 10. I saw the twitch of his lip, the clenching of his hands and the dullness of his eyes. He was hurt, even if he didn't want to show it.

"No. He is family now." I quickly dissuaded him from that notion, tossing away any leverage I might have had that would keep Eric from staking claim to me. I knew my caution was floating away with the wind. He smiled now and loosened his body, his lips curving with suggestion. Knowing he knew I was not tied, the fae in me started stalking around my mind, fangs and claws hungry to claim. To howl that he was _mine_. Rake his back. _Mark him._

Eric studied me in turn now, taking me in, assessing carefully any changes. I felt a surge of pride and confidence. Vampires had extraordinary senses, and I relished his analysis. The old Sookie was a cute southern belle with a pretty face and a curvy body. But she wasn't lethal, like I was now, even in human form. I was powerful, and knowledgeable. I could give him a run for his money, gosh darn it.

It was so wrong to want a vampire, for a fae. But it was all I could think about, lord help me. I'd spent a long time with the girls taking down vampires and while most of our targets deserved death for the perverse things they did, it didn't make them much different than me. I was as supernatural as Godric and Eric, even though we were supposed to be on opposite teams.

Being back here reminded me that there was a time where I didn't feel confident or in control. I had chosen running as my best option. I ran really far. I let my fear of not being good enough or wanted by my family drive me away. There was a part of me that didn't think I was worthy for letting Gran die, and that I was truly a monster after becoming fae.

I had to wonder if I was brave for being back. Maybe I only felt courageous because I had gotten physically and magically stronger. It had taken much longer to become mentally sound, and I had gotten better by leaps and bounds when I accepted my fae side. There was still that niggling sensation that being nigh immortal and magical by nature hid the fact that I was afraid of a lot of things. And that maybe hanging around Eric Northman could trigger me to run again. I withheld expressing that thought at all and tried to stop it in its tracks, not wanting it to infect any other part of my thought process.

"You surprise me Sookie Stackhouse. It is a rare quality for a breather." He had finished his evaluation, facing me with a hungry look.

"You forget, I am not human." I let drop the shields that bound the fae part of me, and she weaved her way out, watching Eric like prey. She wanted to test his mettle. I blinked my cat eyes at him, and let my tiny fangs settle in.

I saw from the flare of Eric's nostrils that the intoxicating scent of fae had slammed into him. His eyes closed in ecstasy, and he actually licked his lips. I felt like a T-bone served on a plate for a hungry dog.

"Snap out of it," I said, before he ate me and licked his plate clean.

With a huge effort, Eric slowly closed the distance between us and pulled me into the same embrace as before. The glimmers of trust that he wouldn't harm me rode on the back of the fact that if he even attempted to do so, my body would erupt with light. And that was not something particularly pleasant for any vampire.

"When you smell like that," he said, "I just wanna fuck you and bite you and rub myself all over you."

"I'd say Godric wouldn't appreciate that, but he's been talking you up and wanting me to date you the entire time he and I have known each other. And from what little you know of me, I'm sure you can realize how well that sort of talk goes over." I did my best single eyebrow raise as I put my hands on my hips, shoving myself hard against him, telling him that I knew exactly what was going on in those tight, tight pants.

"Sookie, let's not disappoint my master." His head tilted and he licked me from clavicle to temple. Who couldn't help but shudder with pleasure? The hottest Viking vampire this side of the Mississip' just tasted me.

 _Come on now Sookie Stackhouse! Don't you just tip over like a felled tree! Make the man work._

"I'm my own woman Mr. Northman. You'll just have to court me the old fashioned way if you want my time." Playing hard to get was so… hard!

"Then I shall, since you are soon to be my lover. Please tell me when your mind has caught up with your body and you are ready to yield entirely."

"Soon-to-be lover? Aren't you the biggest bullshitter."

"I'm blameless. I've been under the spell of a blonde blood-sucker for several years now."

"Tricking me into drinking your blood doesn't count you know."

"Ah but it wasn't all tricks was it. There were some treats freely given." That fangy grin could shine on me all day and night.

"I'm not sure you could survive any of my new treats."

"I'm willing to give it my best attempt." He purred, stroking my spine in a mesmerizing fashion. His words weren't lacking in confidence in the slightest. It wasn't a promise to 'try'. He meant to succeed and then some.

 _I think I could fall in love with this cocky, arrogant Viking, who is so handsome, so certain of himself, and is the very embodiment of what must be mind-blowing love making._

Possession and jealousy came over me in a wave. Eric probably had a life outside of me now. Who had he been fucking? I detached myself from him, feeling unfairly furious. Eric noted how quickly my feelings of desire had morphed into something else.

Godric came into the room, opening and closing the patio door quicker than he had when he first left. I turned to look at him.

"We have a problem." Godric took a whiff of the volatile feelings in the air.

"There is no time for this. Sookie, this is Eric, Eric, Sookie. Now shelve the issue."

We both growled when he took his hand, cutting it through the air, his admonishment final.

I wanted to shout that _Eric_ was the vampire I had been telling him about, but Godric cut me off before I could open my mouth.

"There is a Maenad. I barely escaped her. She has demanded tribute from the Sheriff of area five. Sookie, she has said to meet her by the fae-touched land…" My thoughts on Eric being Godric's child _and_ the vampire who had protected me, even if it was for his own benefit, stopped abruptly. The book had been very clear on Maenads being devastatingly lethal creatures that operated in a chaotic fashion, striking on a whim wherever they wandered.

Their behavior was somewhat understandable. They were looking for Azazel, and they roamed the earth doing so. You could as easily find a maenad in the amazon as you could in the Ural mountains. They had no set range. What attracted them were gatherings of supernatural creatures in one place. New Orleans' vampire population was among the highest-per-capita in the world and the whole of Louisiana was generally favored by other Supes.

"Is she asking for tribute?"

"Yes, and a Bacchanalia." Godric confirmed.

"Who does she want Godric?" I wondered where she was planning on having her little party. Typically they chose areas where other fae had been. Usually fae who stayed in one area for longer than a month marked the land in some way that other fae could recognize, making it a beacon for a maenad who was counting on fae magic to bring her to Azazel or him to her. Being close to any other kind of magic or supernatural creatures helped as well. I was trying to think if I'd heard anything through the SSS about fae being spotted here.

"The shifter." He confirmed. Eric was silently watching our exchange, likely noting our familiarity with one another.

"Sam? She asked for him by name? She's going to kill him?!" My voice got progressively louder and my claws extended.

Godric and Eric locked themselves into a staring contest, and I realized they must be communicating silently within their bond.

"Out loud, and in english please." I leveled coldly. "Where is this place?" Eric looked at me sharply as I spoke and it clicked immediately.

"On my land?" My voice raised an octave or two. His expression confirmed it, and I was so angry thinking this nutty fairy was going to have an orgy on _my_ land! Or it was my land. Oh no.

"I now own the land, but Bill…" He raised his hands up and closed his eyes in frustration.

"What about _Bill._ " I spat.

"He commissioned the house." I hissed and Godric zoomed over to put a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"Sookie. We must focus on the Maenad and come up with a plan of action." I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Bill and Eric later, crazy fairy now.

"The maenad is a mad fairy. Perhaps I can talk her down. I will ask the book what to do." I left them to reacquaint with each other while I found my way up the stairs. Hustling into my room I stood at the foot of the bed and looked at the book.

"Talk."

The book stayed closed. I opened it and the pages were still blank.

"Ok ancestors, I'm inviting you in. Talk to me!"

Nothing. Fuck. I whirled around and stomped down the stairs.

Godric looked at me expectantly while Eric graced me with a leer.

 _A come hither look? At a time like this? He's going to pay for allowing Bill to build whatever the heck he wanted on my land! And he's going to sell me my property back, that's for fucking sure! Damn it Jason! Why'd you have to go and sell to a vampire?_

As he continued to kept up with the 'fuck me' eyes, I remembered once more that Eric also owned Fangtasia and he would sit on his throne and… Take women back to his office.

The rising number of fangbangers who I suspected of having seen that smirk in the time I had been gone made me see red. It was illogical to be upset about what he did while I was gone, but it didn't make it easier to stomach.

And of course, it was the fae side speaking. Roaring internally that Eric was _mine_ , Godric was _mine,_ andthe property that had been in my family for generations was _mine_. It was a convincing argument that all fairies were tantrum-throwing-two-year olds in super-model bodies with insane amounts of magic at their disposal.

"We go to _my_ property. Meet her there and ask her what she wants in exchange. I am a fae, like her, and she will at the very least speak to me. And if not, we will hurt her until she does pay attention."

"Sookie, you are very powerful, but a maenad is almost never sane for more than a few seconds." Godric softly tried to diffuse my rising temper.

"Then I will trust the ancestors to deal with it." I snapped at him, teeth bared.

"And you can trust them?" He said, even gentler than his last sentence.

"I have to believe that they'll do just about anything to preserve me. I've done some thinking about how I came by the book. It was meant for me, me specifically. Not Niall, or any other fae. It has a vested interest in keeping me alive."

"What is this book? Who are the ancestors?" Eric disliked being left out of the planning, as he should. I was being petty, but until I knew that he had no formal attachments, I'd be withholding my affections. Besides, I was justified in not explaining it since we were running low on time to meet the maenad before she began her bacchanalia.

"We are setting aside that detail for now. Let's leave." I reached out both of my hands to either of them, indicating they should grab hold. Godric reached out first and Eric followed Godric's movement. We landed in the old cemetery. Eric chuckled, unafraid of my teleportation.

I was loathe to walk towards where the old house stood and see whatever monstrosity Bill had cooked up. Throughout my work with the SSS, I'd read about Bill and his history. He had been a good king thus far, given what had happened to the state prior to his rule. His brown-nosing past behavior lended itself to politics like butter on toast. He had been a procurer. Very little morals in taking what he wanted. The SSS had plenty of files on missing persons and regularly combed through them as best they could to tie the cases to vampires. Bill had more than a few victims. There was no prosecution that resulted from knowing which vampire abducted a human; police were never called.

The SSS' reasoning behind this is that we were both unable to enforce punishments and our methods of collection would be under threat if vampires found out we were using them. A great many victims had been found by our use of witchcraft and often times deaths were confirmed by my telepathy. It would be a disaster if vampires thought we could track as many murders as we had, so we only pursued cases that had multiple sources. There was also no use trying to leverage anything against monarchies which had more businesses under the table than above board, so we stuck with policing the behavior of the mainstream vampires since they were most likely to care about the skeletons in their closet.

The pictures of the people Bill had procured in his time at Sophie-Anne's court flipped through my head. Some were hybrids of demons and fae. Usually quite diluted. Most were dead due to Sophie-Anne and her children's poor treatment of donors. Bill had been responsible for the constant violation of one of the rules of the revelation: no unwilling donors.

It was true that he wasn't involved in that sort of thing now and didn't allow it in his court, but that didn't bring back the several hundred people he had ensnared and enslaved. His gentlemanly nature as a king concealed his ugly past from the mainstream, and it was a weak point as well as a delusion that he considered himself a more human vampire than most. Maybe he was, maybe he wasn't. He still had arranged a potentially fatal accident to get his blood into me, and for that he would pay, king or no.

I closed my eyes and stood in the cemetery, not moving while Godric and Eric waited with me, knowing that I was about to go into a stubborn rage over the house. When I walked over, I wanted to be more upset about what I saw.

It was a traditional plantation home with lovely pillars and a well maintained porch, as if its owners spent plenty of time outside fanning themselves while the sun beat down from above. I should have guessed it would look as 'human' a house as possible. It looked like he had made it for me. He had no right to assume what I would want.

"When we're done with this, I am going to level this thing."

"You will not." Eric's words surprised me.

"We have a Solstice ball here shortly and I will not see our plans go to waste because you wish to throw a fit."

"A fit? That's what you call my righteous anger? You bought my land Eric, presumably from my brother. And then you let Bill build on it. The whole time both of you knew I was alive. This is something I would have expected if you were my enemy. As an insult to me."

"Bill commissioned the house as king. I had no choice but to accept." Eric was looking at me neutrally, maintaining control over his emotions which was a critical difference between vampires and fae. They had to stay neutral because of their power struggles, whereas a noble fae could afford emotions. We were much stronger by magic, but weak in that we attracted too much attention to stay alive easily on this realm.

"We will be discussing this later. After." Godric had been silent, cocking his head one side as if to listen to something.

"Fine. You should know-" A rustling in the trees interrupted Eric, and Pam, Eric's child, was there. Last time our meeting had not gone so well and it looked like it wasn't going to be any better this round.

"So. Our wayward sparkle-puss has returned."

"So good to see you again." I practically hissed. Somewhere along the line I had cloaked my features as a default, and I was thankful my body had such a great self defense mechanism against being seen in my true form.

"You know I don't see what's so fucking special about you. Sure, you smell nice, and you're delectable looking. But you've been a pain in my master's ass, and thus mine."

Godric and Eric were silent, letting this play out. I wanted to lay the smack down on this woman. Last time she had demanded I let Eric feed on me, drain me even. If I had been outside my house, she would have snapped my neck without a second thought.

I decided a picture was worth a thousand words and I let myself unfurl my cloaking. Transforming instead of dropping the illusion would make more of an impression.

My claws elongated first, and along with the lengthening of them, my face became angular. It didn't take long for the silvery sheen of my fae skin to settle in and my claws and teeth to turn into hard silver. I rubbed my tongue over the sharp points that jutted from my gums. The bells in my hair twinkled merrily, a stark contrast to the numerous different kinds of scary that I was.

My hair was almost white now. I knew this after watching myself change many times in the mirror that when the horns grew in, so too did my hair lose some of its blonde. The crown was there now, warping and changing. The last change to take place was my eyes. They were like the ribbon on the whole package. Whenever I had stared into my own fae-eyes in the mirror, I felt the current of magic tell me that I was no longer human, and that I belonged to the magic and light. The untamed look of my gaze reflected the torrent of power that raced through me.

Pam reacted more or less as expected. Her fangs dropped, long and thick, any veil of humanity tucked away for the time being. With her eyes sclera black and her own smaller vampire claws jutting out, she hissed and put herself into a pouncing stance.

"I wouldn't."

Both Eric and Godric were trying to resist their nature, averting their eyes from me in an attempt to not trigger their instinct to kill.

Point made, I lessened my form to resume the softer features of Sookie Stackhouse, who was as non-threatening as it got. Pam relaxed and looked at Eric for guidance.

I didn't get a chance to ensure I had truly won the dick-measuring contest before the bushes rustled again. Out popped a Razorback. It gazed at us eerily, a certain kind of intelligence behind its eyes. The foliage rustled again and the maenad stepped through.

When I took her in, I wondered first what the vampires saw. To me, I could see the magic we shared palpitating off of her in jagged bursts. From the basic understanding I had of maenads, they were very close to immortal because they tapped into more magic than normal fae did. They would never breed, not having enough life to sustain any children after diving too deeply into the collective magic that all fae were tied into in order to reach Azazel. Their insanity enabled them to use magic without many boundaries on it, but only on a subconscious basis. Maenad's had no real control over the flow of magic and no concept of utilizing it for results. It made them unpredictable, and if they believed they could do something with magic, they almost always could.

Like not dying. If a maenad did not want to die, she wouldn't.

"Sister. You have come to celebrate the great honor I have bestowed upon you by using your land to bring my father." My stomach did a backflip and then shrunk. Of course she was here because of my fairy presence. I imagine Niall and other fairies had been creeping around here waiting for me to come back and with my fae family being royal it was no surprise she picked this exact location to have her party.

The perimeter of the forest started moving again and about thirty of Bon Temp's townspeople shambled out of the bushes. She hadn't missed any of my friends but Sam. Jason thankfully wasn't there, but she had gotten Lafayette and Tara. I assumed Hoyt was with his vampire girlfriend and Jason was off with the girl from Merlotte's who had left her boyfriend there alone.

Their eyes were similar to an angry vampires. Pitch black with no whites. Hearing them groan and watching them rub themselves in anticipation was frightening. A maenad didn't exactly inspire lust in their victims, which was a common misconception. The people she held in her thrall acted out her internal state. Maenads all wanted the same thing; Azazel back on this earth so they could mate with their father and restart the bloodline of fire fae. Which made sex and violence the top two states of maenad-thralls. Mate with Azazel, kill all those who try and stop her.

No fae had any compunctions about incest. Fairies did not have much of a reliance on DNA as humans did. Our magic protected us from the consequences of intermarriage, which made the two cultures develop in a completely different way. It was not uncommon for full blooded siblings to form mating trios. Power was consolidated that way and there was no concern for defects. Not that I'd be testing any of this out.

"Sister. I have brought more celebrants. Have you picked a worthy sacrifice?" I asked respectfully. Godric, Eric and Pam stood in the background, all three probably finding her scent atrocious. She did smell quite bad. Like burnt flesh, dirt and decay. Pam had calmed herself down, and she stood close to Eric waiting for his command. Godric looked calm, but I knew he was as taut as a bow string and ready to give me time to get away if it came to that.

"Yes dear sister. He is of a long line of yee naaldlooshii, several branches of family traced to the first of their name. A worthy gift to Azazel. I have tried before… so many times. But the yee naaldlooshii is exceptional… the lord will come." When she smiled, I could see her teeth glinting copper between the rot and dirt that coated her gums. Beneath it all I could see the fae that once was.

Ruddy colored skin with sharp orange eyes. Tawny hair peeked through the clumps of mud matted throughout. Her claws and teeth had oxidized, but they still sparkled when the moon hit them just right. Not a noble fae herself, but a fae nonetheless.

I took a risky move.

"A demon was the death of Azazel. Abyzou forced Petomene-" The maenad's body and features rolled and twisted in anger, her thralls moving with her like so many puppets. Petomene was out of reach in another dimension, and likely had passed on long ago. This was irrelevant to maenads, who had no sense of time's passing. They had no need to keep track, their suffering the only constant they required.

"You do not speak her name! She is the cause of sorrow and we seek her on behalf of our lord, to show him the wrongness of it. He is ours. Our father and mate." She wasn't telling me as much as she was telling herself that Petomene was the root of the problem. Maenads loved to wax on about Azazel and hated hearing about Petomene. I tried talking about the demoness in the hopes that the maenad would be deterred by her own anger and seek out the demon instead of settling on an 'inferior' sacrifice. No such luck.

"Eric, you will give me the deed to this land?" I turned and asked him, shooting him a narrow-eyed grimace that said 'you better'.

"Yes lover." All three of the vampires looked predatory, eying up the maenad. I turned back to look at her. She was about to get really, really mad.

"Then I am afraid I must lay claim to this land under the house of Brigant." I had rights as a fae princess to tell her to leave since the land belonged to me, but that did not mean she would respect them. I could defend them, but she would have to believe she _could_ die in order to be punished effectively. My best bet was to challenge her for the land, win and hope she abided by her defeat by dying. Or to play along and pretend that Azazel was here to kill her.

Her face contorted again and the people of Bon Temp moved closer to her as she shrunk into herself in preparation to strike. I prepared myself for her movement, gearing up to apparate next to the vampires and pull them out of here. She blinked out of existence and I made my move to get my vampires. I landed closely to them, leaning in to touch their bodies before portaling again.

Except I didn't move. I felt the pull of teleportation and then a wall slammed into me, keeping me corporeal along with the vampires. The maenad wasn't physically near us, and as she and her minions charged, they flooded past us. We turned quickly to find the maenad engaged with other fairies. A whole squadron stood in the background at the ready, while five fairies hounded the maenad. On the side stood Niall, grinning.

A few of the fairies had their hands stretched out, light exuding and dissipating into the air. They were stretching their Arma to hold me down from portaling away. The vampires were growling now, Godric and Eric having moved to stand in front of me on either side. Niall's eyes met mine and he spoke.

"Welcome, princess. We have come to take you home." Fangs dropped, including mine. The clattering of claw and sword continued and I watched each silver weapon come down on the maenad out of the corner of my vision. The people of Bon Temp crept closer, enclosing the fairies in a circle while the rest of Niall's soldiers ignored the battle.

"Kill her. She would kill the humans to gain the upper hand!" I shouted.

"The humans are safe for now, but will likely die when we leave. It will make no difference." Niall brushed my concern away.

"I'm not going with you."

The prince's eyes flashed in anger and he raised his arm, flicking a finger through the air. Two fairies appeared a few feet in front of us, not leaving time for defense. The Arma dropped and the fairies latched onto Godric, biting into him on either shoulder with their silver teeth, which were black with tarnish. Eric promptly grabbed the jaw of the fairy closest to him and tried to wrench it open while the fairie scratched and kicked at him and Godric both. I quickly repeated Eric's tactics on the other fae, and also drove my claws into her torso, seeking out her organs. They both whirled around quickly, disappearing and reappearing at Niall's side.

They were hideous creatures for fae. Their appearance was nightmarish and left much to be desired for looking at all humanoid. They had wide smiles, oddly hunched stances, blood encrusted hair, pallid blue skin, black claws and raggedy pelts for clothing. A female and a male, they looked to be siblings or mates who had begun to look and act like one another. Maybe both. Their eye contact with me as they chewed on pieces of Godric was unnerving. The male moved over to the female and began to lap up the blood leaking out of her body.

Godric had fallen to one knee, wrapping his arms around himself.

"Silver poisoning." He said quietly. Our teeth were not intended to leak silver. They must have done something to their saliva.

"Neave and Lochlan drink water laced colloidal silver regularly. The vampire will no longer be a concern for you. They would attack and drain you if given the opportunity." Niall sounded cynical, as if he had done me a favor that I didn't realize was important. Rage boiled inside me and I tried portaling over to attack him. The Arma was up once more.

"If Godric or the townspeople die, I will never go with you to fairy. I will hunt you."

Neave and Lochlan cackled at my words, their laugh similar to hyenas. I noted that instead of attacking the fairies specifically, the townspeople were rioting amongst themselves and were lashing out at the squad of fairies, only to be shoved back by shields. It was a small blessing that the townspeople couldn't interfere with the maenad's fight.

"True-child, you are not in a place to bargain."

"Oh yes I am. You want my cooperation, and you don't have it. I will fight you every step of the way and even if you walk away now I will find you for what you did to Godric."

"Boy Death? As you humans say, he had it coming." I hissed and raked my claws against the barrier, causing sparks of light to come off. If I pushed hard enough I might be able to knock it over. I had to think. Priority one was saving Godric, getting them out of here. He would need blood, lots of it, and soon.

The sparks increased and I started pushing out my own magic through my fingers to carve holes in the barrier. More of the fae attending Niall put their arms out to reinforce it and my power felt the pressure of the Arma increase.

"He is dying." Eric said quietly.

 _No. Think Sookie!_

I had to go with him, but it couldn't be forever.

"What do you want with me?" The sounds of battle around me upped the ante, stress eating away at my composure. I had to suppress the urge to punch at the barrier, which would break my hands for certain.

"You are fae. You should be with your family."

"Not a good enough fucking answer." I ground out. He was silent, looking intently at me knowing he had the upper hand. Time stretched as we stared each other down and from my peripheral I could see that the fight with the maenad was wearing on the fae guard. I caught a glimpse of Terry pummeling Andy Bellefleur in the face as he lay on the ground and I knew if I didn't deal with this situation soon people would die.

I looked behind me. Eric had started feeding Godric his blood behind me, signaling to Pam that they should switch off as their wounds closed up. Godric himself had already fallen to the ground, his face pale and tight. A feral scream ripped through the air near where Niall stood and I turned around to see a huge wolf latched on to Neave's waist where I had clawed her. Niall portaled away quickly as Lochlan lunged for the wolf. He was tackled to the ground by a similarly gigantic panther, it's jaws clamped around Lochlan's neck.

Both fae howled and fought, attempting to cut ribbons of flesh off of the animals. But they weaved away from their grasp, the wolf tripping Neave's legs out from under her and using its weight to shove her to the ground while the panther stepped on Lochlan's arms as it pulled his head up and slammed it on the ground several times, their movements preternaturally intelligent.

Niall took advantage of the animal's focus to blast them away with magic. They tumbled off, knowing to let go of their prey lest they find themselves prey in return when the fairies found advantage. Both looked at me at the same time, stalking over as blood dripped from their mouths. Neave and Lochlan rolled on the ground behind them, blood coating their heads and torsos.

Munin picked that time to fly down and land on the back of the wolf. The nixe turned and hissed at Niall, which I would have thought was adorable outside of the midst of the skirmish. The cougar and wolf kept walking my way but started to shimmer like Weres did before shifting. Munin flew back to his tree as the two creatures did change into humans.

Or something like humans. They retained certain features of their second nature. The cougar had an elongated face with her canines somewhat intact, the area surrounding her eyes stayed a dark black instead of turning pink while the eyes stayed the same amber color. She had a lanky and muscled body that was golden tan and her hair a mix of tan, white highlights and grey lowlights. The wolf had been almost black in color and she maintained her color scheme as the panther had, her glowing yellow eyes framed by black, canines visible through her open mouth with dark black skin.

The two nude women kept walking towards me with purpose and I watched Niall hiss with frustration. Neave and Lochlan were coiled around each other now, sucking on each other's wounds. Lochlan looked at me and raved.

"We will ruin you for this, you fucking bitch. I'm going to flay you alive after I kill everyone you love in front of you." He untangled himself and snatched a human from near by.

"No! Don't-"

Lochlan's teeth crunched into the neck of a man I'd served at Merlotte's a couple times. He had a wife and five kids that he could barely support. The fairy started eating him and Neave moved closer to do the same, beginning with the man's arm. I vomited as the blood poured out of him to the sound of his gargling and the fairy's mastication.

"Fuck you! Fuck you Niall! I'll come with you, with conditions! You let the vampires go and never bother them again. No eating the humans. Kill the Maenad. If I go, I will stay a week, no more." I had forgotten about the women, though they had been walking towards me. They now stood on either side of the Arma, staring coldly at Niall. Given that they had attacked my enemies, had not attacked me, Munin liked them and they were stuck outside the Arma, I could ignore them for now but tentatively categorize them as allies.

"We will take care of the maenad. You will come for however long I see fit to keep you in fairy and the vampires will be left alone unless they meddle in fae business again." The prince countered lazily.

"I am not going to stay in fairy on your terms! I demand to be able to leave within at least an earth-year and no longer. Likely sooner."

"You can leave if a royal fae agrees to escort you."

"Yeah? And how many of those are there."

"Seven, eight including me. This is your final offer before I lose patience and take you by force. I'd prefer you not fight me." He smiled, which told me all the royals were all his people. Maybe I could convince one. I'd have to risk it, because I believed that he _could_ take me against my will.

"Don't go Sookie. Godric would have given his life to see you safe. I know this from the bond." Eric whispered to me, his face paler than usual from bloodloss. Godric looked no better, likely needing human blood at this point. Pam hadn't said a word, wisely choosing to not attract attention.

"It's not your or his choice. I would never forgive myself if he died on my account." My words spasmed out of me, desperate.

"And he would never forgive himself for your enslavement by the fucking fae!" He stood and roared at me, willing me to back down as he showed me that his reputation as a warrior was earned. I stood still, unafraid and up for the challenge.

"You cannot do this." He lost his composure as a fighter then and his eyes were red with unshed tears.

"You have just come back. I forbid you to leave." Hardening again, he took a step forward to indicate he would stop me by force.

"You forbid me nothing!" We snarled at one another, making low guttural sounds of hostility. I softened, remembering those around me who might be dying as we spoke.

"People are dying Eric. Godric is dying. I think he would understand my decision, even if he didn't like it. And if not, I am willing to take the risk and hope that he's too weak to fight you if he should wish to walk in the sun. Tell him I will find him and drag him back, wherever his soul goes, if he tries."

"You see child, the vampires do not respect the fae. Come be with your kind and you will see that they are not worth the effort." I turned back to Niall as he spoke.

"Shut up old man. I would end you, given the opportunity. But I'll take the deal as it stands and promise you that while I am in fairy that I will not attack you unless you should act against me first. This applies to any of your people. We will swear on the blood."

"Agreed." The Arma dropped and the two women closed in on me, touching my arms with their hands. We glowed momentarily and I felt my magic click into the two empty reservoirs they contained. Innuo, Ligabis. The book told me to call, and they came.

"I guess you are mine?" I asked the cougar-woman.

"We are." The wolf responded.

"Who taught you to call and to bind. You will tell me." The prince snarled at me.

"Not part of the deal. They are _mine_ and they will be coming with me as will the raven."

"Niamh." The wolf whispered.

"Palug." Said the cougar. I nodded, keeping my eyes trained on Niall.

"Kill the maenad, prince." I turned back to Eric, "go." Pam did not hesitate and snatched Godric, running into the woods. Eric stayed, looking from me to Niall.

"I have waited Sookie. Waited far too long to let him take you from me." His voice was rough with repressed emotion.

"I will return." I could see he did not agree with me, but he shot off into the air, ending the conversation. Niall then shot his light at the maenad in time with his guard dropping the Arma around her and the fae that kept her at bay. It filled her body and I watched her eyes glow with it. I could see him whispering, but couldn't make out his words.

"Azazel!" She screeched before she began to wrinkle and cave into herself. Trusting that she was dying, I assessed the people around me. There were two bodies that I could see were dead, besides the one that Neave and Lochlan were chewing on. The eyes of the humans were clearing of the blackness and they stumbled about, regaining consciousness.

The spot where the maenad stood was a smoking crater and each of the five fae who fought her stood panting, sweat plastering their hair to the sides of their head. Even exhausted, they were beautiful in the way only my people could be.

"Clean this up." I demanded of Niall. I agreed to not attack and to go to fairy, but I didn't say I would be nice about it.

"I will do you this favor."

"No favor." Favors were to be avoided at all costs. On their own, faeries will never do another fairy a favor. A human owing a fairy a favor is bad enough, but a fairy owing another fairy a favor would be the death of them. Some fairies don't even intend on calling a favor in once they get one, they just like to see their opponent squirm.

"A gift." I finished.

"A gift then." His eyes narrowed. He must have been hoping to tie me to fairy further by putting me in his debt.

"Come." Neave and Lochlan were chewing on the guts and bones of the man they had killed, but got up to follow Niall.

"Keep those disgusting animals away from me." The two fae giggled madly, slobbering on their meal as they stared at me.

"To your mother." He said to them. They winked at me and disappeared. The troops Niall had brought fell in line around Niamh, Palug and me. The two Weres, if that's what they were, hissed at a few guards who stepped too close, snapping at them with their teeth. The fae ignored the taunt but kept their distance. Munin came down to land on my shoulder, tucking himself close to my neck.

We walked to the tree line and Niall put his hand in the air, light swirling out in a circle from his palm. It expanded and opened a door to a glen filled with light. I could see that it was gorgeous; filled with flowers, butterflies and birds. Niall stood to the side of the opening and we started marching through.

I felt a jolt as we left earth and I braced myself to face what awaited me in fairy.


	27. Chapter 27

Note, I utilized a concept from the Dresden Files regarding Weres. In the series, there are several kinds of Weres. (Witches/Wizards who use magic to transform, a curse on the family line (Loup Garou), regular Werewolves that get bitten) One such character is a _wolf_ who turns into a _human_ , which I thought was interesting.

My interpretation is a little different, in that my fairy-Weres existence is enabled by magic that all supernatural creatures access, but is similar enough to merit mentioning and give credit for inspiration.

The idea is that the earth dwelling Weres, who go from human to animal, (think Alcide) are derivatives of fae Weres who go from animal to human.

Stamine - portaling/apparating

Audite - telepathy

Arma - shield

Ante - seeing magic

Thanks Suzy!

"Again Niamh?" I was exasperated. The fourth one this week.

"Yes. Another invitation. This time it's for a private dinner with Preston Pardloe. You had met him at-"

"The Yuletide, my studies, my combat training, also my walks and of course my meal times. Yes. Who could forget." It had been six months here so far. Six educational but imprisoned months.

"I would hope they are all forgettable enough that you could not be sure where you had seen them before." The Were smirked. I gave her a smile back. Everyone and their mother was out to coerce or bend my will to their purpose in fairy, except for my cat-sith and wulver. The first and foremost offender was Niall and by extension some of my fairy family. Second was the endless list of suitors Niall paraded in front of me without shame. They popped up just about everywhere. I'd run into a smiling handsome man while picking fruit or reading a book deep in the forest. It didn't matter where; _someone_ of the opposite sex was bound to find me. If I didn't know that fairy had no iron or any of its derivatives I would assume that Niall had bugged the gazebo and had latched tracking devices to all my clothes. As it stood he could have placed some kind of spell here and there to do the same thing and I was working feverishly through my studies to see if there was a way to track someone and if so, figure out how to thwart whatever method he was using to find me. Thank god no one slept at all in fairy or I might find myself with an engagement ring on my finger as I was escorted down the aisle in a bed.

It had been only a month in this realm, and I hadn't been able to get an accurate answer as to what time that corresponded to on earth. After dealing with the adversity of several life changes, instead of choosing to out-stubborn Niall by refusing to eat, learn or otherwise be of use, I vowed I would study all I could to get the hell out of here. It wasn't as dangerous a game as one might suppose. I doubt Niall expected anything less of me than to do everything possible to connive my way free. It was either that or twiddle my thumbs and not find a way out while crying "woe is me". I didn't fool myself into thinking I was smarter than Niall. And I certainly am not wily or morally decrepit like many fae could be. But I had to try.

"I can _accidentally_ pee on his belongings when he comes to escort you?" Palug was sprawled out on the cushions, enjoying the sun's rays. Her golden eyes were filled with mischief. Neither of my companions wore clothes and in the short time I'd been here I'd gotten used to their nudity. To them, wearing human skin was their other nature. Like Weres that wore their fur as a wolf, they wore their skin as a human. The Weres on earth shifted from human to animal, but these were the original types of Weres who had first interbred with humans to create the Weres we know today. Palug was a cougar, first and foremost, just as Niamh was truly a wolf. It showed in their human form. Their eyes didn't turn and their features were too animalistic to hide in plain sight on earth. Instead of their first born children being only Weres, every cub or kitten was a full Were.

"He'd try to euthanize you, knowing Preston. ' _Princess you simply must rid yourself of that incontinent beast!'"_ My voice turned haughty, a fairly decent impression of Sir Pardloe-the-whiney. Niall had been unabashedly aiding and abetting Preston's pursuit of my hand in marriage, Preston being his number one pick to marry me. How else would the damn fairy know my entire schedule?

Both of my companions snickered and Munin, who was sitting on the top of another chair chittered with us. Without them, I would have cut a swath of death through fairy a long time ago and likely found myself dead or imprisoned here for eternity, for real.

Niamh plopped down in between Palug's legs and laid back on her. The cat-sith started grooming Niamh, combing through the wulver's hair with her claws. Preston also had companions, though they were male and he never kept them by his side. Most fairies considered their companions magic-storage devices and nothing more. Since fairy itself was safe from danger, it was only 'necessary' to make contact with a companion once a month to drain off magic as needed or take it back.

Our companions acted as eyes, ears, body guards and places to keep some of our magic so we had enough of it on hand to heal grave injuries or perform large workings of magic. Fae could also mesh their mind with their companions, allowing for fine tuned coordination and telepathy between us. The latter wasn't so much words as it was the fae's mind subsuming the companions. Neither Palug nor Niamh had complained when I'd tried it with them, and in fact both had insisted I learn how to utilize this skill.

Sadly, other fairies did not seem to find this as useful or awesome as I did.

I knew I was considered uncouth for desiring the company of my cat and wolf. But fairies were bigots and the only other person who I could tolerate for longer than an hour was Claudette, my fairy cousin, who was teaching me the art of battle. Her sister, Claudine, was also nice but she had her head so far up Niall's ass that I was sure she could see out of his eyes. Claude, the third of the three who were triplets, was also wonderful but his ravenous appetite for male flesh superseded any conversation we might have. As long as there was a male fairy near, he was slavering over them. All fairies were beautiful, so he had no reason for discrimination.

 _Maybe I should keep him around more often. Invite Preston over for a little dinner date, just the three of us. I'm sure I can find an excuse to dip out, leaving poor little Pardloe to Claude's machinations._

I could only imagine the look on Preston's face as Claude fawned over him. He'd be terrified of the implications. Who you were seen with in fairy before pledging marriage had deep meaning. There were established forms of courtship and fae behavior. The whole thing was bizarre, because as soon as you were married you could go hang out or have sex with whoever you wanted. Fairies had very little concept of fidelity on a relationship level, only political.

An unmated male and an unmated female fairy could be seen together, as could multiple male and female fae without a second thought, but there were a few exceptions to the idea of "multiple".

Two unmated male fae and an unmated female fae could not be seen together unless they were preparing to be or already mated, excepting if she was a royal princess or prince given that courtship for royalty was competitive.

And lastly, two unmated male fae could not be seen together _unless_ they were a pair looking for a female addition. In which case they would be expected to accept the first or second proposal for marriage. Fairies only did this when they had exhausted their own social channels and wanted to make their need to mate a 'public' affair. This is what Preston would be afraid of, should I leave him in Claude's capable hands.

My unwillingness to conform to these cultural standards led most fae to scatter to the wind when I came walking by, disgusted by my blatant disregard for their customs, even if it didn't personally affect them.

It would be considered extremely rude and uncivilized for me to put Preston in such a spot, inviting Claude along for dinner and then abandoning the two. Claude wouldn't care about marrying another fae woman if he got Preston in the deal. He might even thank me. While Claude played somewhat nice in fairy, he was known to eschew such courtesies when on earth. Some fae never left fairy, being unable to act as Romans would while in Rome. Not Claude. He relished the freedoms of the human world and he was on team Sookie, where our motto was 'never having fae babies, ever'. Yup, he was a bro.

If I were not royalty, I would have been completely shunned by _all_ fae long ago for my social faux pas'. As it stood, I was a prize to be won, despite my irascible nature.

"You wish to go?" Palug continued her ministrations on Niamh, not looking at me as she spoke.

"You know I don't. But he'll only ask again and I declined the last two times. And I can't stop him and others from coming around either. But we can at least poke some more fun at them." I hoped my smile looked as evil as I felt like being.

"Wear the human clothes." Niamh mumbled. I grinned and Palug let a few purrs rumble from her petite frame. Though they were both lean as humans, they were impossibly huge when in animal form.

Claudette had been the one to first teach me how to ride the wulver and since then I'd been out riding Niamh through the woods several times a week, enjoying the feeling of her loping beneath me while Palug ran by our side. In war the fae rode on the backs of their companions into battle, but it'd been so long since there had been fighting that all of the fae I knew who had been born in the past few hundred years were not interested in learning. Being able to run with them was one of the few pleasures untainted by my imprisonment. I also recognized and appreciated any advantage over another supe species, having interacted with many vampires. Fae were badass mother fuckers, and the history of the fae wars told me that it took at least 10 baby vampires to dispose of a fae, usually 20. As vampires aged, the number of vampires needed to kill a fae lowered, but not significantly so. Plus, no older vampire wanted to risk going up against a fae, lest they be the unlucky one that died. Because vampires almost always died when attacking the fae.

As for my human clothes, it was something I'd refused to give up in fairy, at least in my own home. Lately I'd been running each of my suitors through the gauntlet, trying to find ways to piss them off or make them run away screaming into the night… er, day. Currently I only had eleven proposals for marriage on the table, down from twenty one. For some, it didn't take much for them to lose interest. My last ploy was to eat fried food in front of each one of them to test their fortitude. Fae were extraordinarily healthy eaters themselves and the idea of scarfing down fried- _anything_ disgusted them. It had worked like a charm, Niall informing me that six potential suitors had 'sadly' dropped out of the running.

"Jeans, t-shirt and sneakers it is."

"Do not forget the human hair-soap." Palug winked at me. Fae hated the chemical smell of most bath products. It was not much of a surprise that the majority of fae disliked just about everything on earth now that it had become industrialized. Fae were mostly magic, but the small amount of life that sustained and tied all of their being together was sensitive. It made them susceptible to any unnatural chemicals found in the human world. Some harsh additives might give us a rash, but it could cause boils on fae skin. Too bad, so sad. Like I gave a shit.

Besides the endless dates I'd been set up on as well as the stalking, I was working furiously to better understand my people, how to use my magic, training with weapons and otherwise going through a slew of instruction on 'how to be a royal princess'. A royal had a lot of expectations placed on them, as I had observed with the triplets, Claude, Claudette and Claudine. They were my cousins by Dillon, Niall's full-blooded fairy son. While they were of royal blood, none exhibited the magical qualities of being a ruler. Being royalty was represented by the growth of a crown when we were in our true form and being of royal blood enabled you to get your crown, but it didn't guarantee you'd get one. All fae here stayed true to their form, allowing their various attributes that placed them in a social stratum to show themselves to others. Except me. Another irritant for my beaus that I'd never walk around looking like a full fae. Since fae just loved to posture I was pointedly denying them the reputation points they would get from being around a royal.

Each of the triplets had their courtly manners down pat and were making money by owning and managing a strip club on earth known as Hooligans. Incredibly enough it was in Louisiana. I hadn't the courage to ask anyone yet just what was up with all the fairies residing in my home state. One would think they would pick somewhere else to focus on. In any case, it was important that a noble fae make money and learn how to manage their retinue. While they weren't that close to inheriting the throne from Niall, they were still required to learn as if they would one day.

As far as I knew, it was Dillon, Breandon, who was Niall's nephew by his brother Rogan, and then myself who made up the list of heirs to the sky fae throne. Though the triplets had no crown, the shape of the dynasty could change abruptly if Niall, Mab, Dillion, Breandon or myself were to die. Fintan and Dermot, the first being my half-blooded fairy grandfather and the latter being Fintan's brother, had already passed into the summer lands. Crowns could sprout from the triplet's heads if magic so chose, but that would likely only happen if Dillon, Breandon or myself died. It took the guesswork and fighting out of having heirs to the throne even if it didn't stop the squabbling between those heirs and the current ruler.

There was also Mab to contend with. She was the queen of the water fae, and Breandon had married her daughter, Suibhne. No children had come of their union as of yet. Mab had been vying to hold the air fairy throne in tandem with the water fae one she already occupied. From what I knew of her, I doubt she would be satisfied ruling it through her son-in-law. Niall was looking to marry me off to shore up his bloodline with more heirs, which would keep me in fairy for good. He had already refused to marry her, though from what I understood they were _perfect_ for one another, being megalomaniacs. Aka, fairies.

"Munin, take this to Preston." He took my RSVP and flew off. I had penned my response to Preston, letting him know to come at night fall. Instead of accepting his terms for dinner, I pushed the boundaries of courtesy completely aside and wrote that he should prepare himself for something special and to bring his wulver, Fionnlagh, his cat-sith, Toirdhealbhach, and his sword.

"So girls. You're going to be with me on my date tonight." I beamed at the both of them and they sat up abruptly, excitement alight on their faces.

"I asked him to bring Fionn' and Toir' and told him it'd be a surprise. I've decided that we're going on a night trip to the middle of the forest at that waterfall we found."

As both of their expressions morphed into confusion I pressed on, "I know what you're thinking. I love that waterfall and why would I share it with him? Well, I told him to bring his sword too. We're going to practice fighting together and play a little game with both of you." I watched as the smiles crept back on their faces. We often played war games with Claudette, her cat-sith, Senga, and her wulver, Griselda.

"See, on a real date I would love to go out to a secluded area and have a romantic night swimming and chasing each other around. But I have a feeling that Preston Pardloe is not that kind of fairy." I smiled wickedly along with my companions. I knew for a fact that Preston only practiced weaponry as an art, just so he could carry a sword and swing it prettily. If it was one thing Niall and I agreed on, it was that most of the air fairies had gone soft since retreating from earth. It made me wonder all the more why he wanted me to marry that fop.

"Capture the flag? Ghost in the graveyard?" Palug asked. I excelled so well at these games when I was younger that I was never allowed to play with the other kids. It felt awful then, but as an adult I'd realized that nobody wanted to play with someone who was always winning, even if they didn't know why. I'd told my companions and Claudette all about these games and Claudette thought they were great practice for war. Oh yes, Preston would _hate_ our date.

"We'll see." I chortled.

Palug and Niamh had run off to grab everything Preston and I would need for the night. He had the bravery to accept my invitation, full well knowing I was about to give him hell.

The book sat in front of me.

On the first night in fairy, Niall had taken me to this gazebo and said that this is where I would stay. All fairies lived outdoors in similar accommodations. There was never a need to bathe or change clothes. Whatever we wished to wear appeared on us. There was also no need to sleep in fairy. I really liked the gazebo, it having been placed far apart from the rest of the fae. It was rude to appear in another's home unannounced, which was a courtesy that made the open layout of the gazebo acceptable. Enjoyable even. On the flip side, most fae lived close together because it felt good to do so. I personally felt that the pleasure of being around so many fae clouded my judgement.

The strangest of events thus far during my time in fairy was that the book made it there on its own.

When Niall had sought to speak to me after my arrival about my newfound experience, I stonewalled him until he threw his hands up in frustration and left. I turned around and there was the book, sitting open on my chaise.

"Why didn't you save me?" It had been uncharacteristically silent on that. It spent a lot of time showing me long lines of fae lineage tracing back several thousand years, as well as fae rituals these days. Niall was not the first Niall of the fae. Nor was Mab.

There were bits and pieces of fae-isms I picked up from the book. Fae loved money and especially jewels. Generally they surrounded themselves with beautiful things. One of my suitors had worn a gigantic emerald dangling on a necklace and I remember trying not to be mesmerized by it. At the time I didn't know about how all fae tended to react to baubles, and I found myself disgusted by my thoughts that _maybe_ marrying a fellow with an emerald like that wouldn't be so bad. Later, like a mind-reader, the book told me what that was all about and I felt just a smidgen better for being so entranced with a stupid rock.

"Kraa!" Munin hopped down to the chaise I was lying on. I scritched his neck absently, reading more history and wishing I could find a book with a less biased opinion on the fae. It seemed like they never thought poorly of themselves in any circumstance, even though we were a dying race for a reason. I had my suspicions about the reasons, but I'd want to discuss it with Niall first. He wasn't likeable, but he wasn't the prince of the fae for nothing.

While I suspected some fae of exaggerating their abilities, Niall was not one of those fairies. Niall had been responsible for a great many business ventures in the human realm, had raised birth rates somewhat, was working tirelessly on ways that fairies could better manage themselves in the human world and generally was a badass fighter in the last fae war. One thing I had figured out about him, is that he cared a great deal for appearances. He may have his own companions, but they were as absent as any other fairy's even if he had used them quite a bit during the war. It was this particular tidbit of knowledge that told me humiliating him by putting on a poor showing of myself was the way to get to him. Making it inconvenient for him to keep me here wouldn't be the straw that broke the camel's back, but it was a weight to bear.

I mused that Richard would love it here, all the politics and history. If I ever could find a way to bring a human here, he'd be the first one to go.

I felt a presence moving up the path with my Audite and I smiled, closing my book. Claudette also spent a lot of time in the human world, and with me she would observe human rituals of coming to call without telling me. The triplets were the only fairies I allowed to do this, not that anyone else would violate custom like they would.

"Claudette!" I bounded down to hug my cousin. Enveloping me in her arms, she twirled us around, lifting my feet from the ground.

"How is earth? Have you been looking after Godric and Eric like I asked?" My voice hopeful.

"I will tell you! But quickly. Preston is on his way. He packs like Claude does when he's going to be working at the club for a month." She rolled her eyes before continuing, "Godric is completely healed now, Eric is researching ways to get you out of fairy, but Bill is seeing to it that their lives are miserable because they failed to tell him you were there. There's also trouble in Mississippi. Nevada wants the state, and don't tell anyone… the king of Mississippi is feeding his blood to earth-Weres." Her eyes were wide, and I gasped a little at her confession. After being with the fae for only a month, I knew a lot more about how valuable the blood of any supernatural creature was. Weres didn't count, but a vampire dishing out their blood to everyone was a real problem for vampires as a whole. When I was still working for the SSS, I had thought that most vampires were fast and loose with the blood. Nope. Most just instinctively wanted to bond themselves to a fairy, mainly me, usually without knowing much more than the fact that I smelled really, really good.

"Nevada has always been erratic and power hungry. Felipe's movement is likely motivated by financial issues, which is ridiculous thinking of all the casinos he has a hand in. I'm sure Bill knows all about this, but he's probably not in a position to do anything. Am I right?"

"Yes. Bill has been making overtures to earth-Were packs and even us fairies. Like we're idiots to not know about you being in fairy and his interest in you. He's even approached the demons, and they want nothing to do with him. Unfortunately a few of the demons have done some work for Felipe."

"Well, you know how I feel."

"Yeah, but if Bill falls, it could put Eric and Godric in jeopardy."

"They'd get out before that happens. Thinking about it just makes me want to be near Eric. I miss him far more than should be rational. Godric too, but that's less crazy since we've spent a lot of time together." I rubbed my face. Claudette thought my fascination with the Viking was funny as all get out. It wasn't just that though. There were reasons that I was as stuck on him as I was. I had yet to accept the reality of them. Now wasn't the time to think about it however.

"It's not unreasonable to want the Viking, he is beautiful and powerful. But you'll have to deal with Bill. We have that effect on vampires. " She sighed.

"Yeah. Obsession inspiring. Ugh, Bill." I continued, "I promised myself I'd run him over with my car. Maybe you can find it in your heart to get me a birthday present?"

"I thought you wanted to leave." She winked.

"I can't have both?" I grinned.

"Maybe. Spoiled brat." She crossed her arms and arched her eyebrow.

"Tomboy fairy."

"That's me." She leaned in closer, "I can't help you with the Bill thing, but I have an idea to get you out. And Sookie, we should talk about Eric some more." We both heard Preston before we saw him.

"Tell you later! Enjoy your time with Pardloe!" She sniggered.

"Don't be mean or I'll tell him _you're_ interested." Now I winked, giving as good as I got. She tittered and portaled away. Getting out of here would be great news.

"Hello my darling, I am ready for our romantic engagement. As you can see, I have fulfilled all of your requests. I must say you are a picture of beauty. Your face should be amongst the royal portraits in the palace. You would outshine them all." While Preston laid it on thick, I noticed his dismissiveness of his companions. He couldn't hide his distaste of them as they hovered behind him in their animal forms.

"Oh Preston, you have such a way with words!" Pedantic fuck. I gave him a giggle, playing the game. Niamh and Palug appeared then, striding forward and changing to their animal form as they walked. Niamh sidled up beside me and Palug took her large head and helped push me up to get on Niamh's back. I could have apparated there, but it was nice having people who cared. I really loved my girls.

Palug purred. Cougars were the largest cat that _could_ ; lions, tigers and any cat that roared had larger vocal folds than the smaller cat species of the world. Niamh tilted her head back up to get a little scratch behind the ear. The whole display made Preston distinctly uncomfortable.

"I'm ready then. Would you saddle Palug with my travel gear?" I was really enjoying this. Preston said not a word as he went to grab the backpack style travel bags that latched around Palug's belly and chest, allowing her to run along and not lose anything. As Preston tightened the billet strap, Palug whuffed his hair in 'affection'. Preston ducked, trying to keep the cougar from his coiffed hair, which was intentionally messy looking with all the stray bits in just the right places to try and make it look like he hadn't done a thing to be so good-looking. Fairies!

I tried not to laugh and looked away so as not to reveal my complicity in the matter. Fionn and Toir had blank faces on, and I could see that Toir's saddle was tightly constricting him. Preston must have put it on in anger.

"Preston my sweet, would you loosen Toir's saddle? I believe he is a bit uncomfortable."

"You are a magnanimous princess, and so delicate of sensibility." He strode over to me and reached up to take my hand. I gingerly gave it to him, playing the role of the innocent-can't-hurt-a-fly-or-I'll-cry pretty princess.

"Light of my heart and soul, you are so very kind. But I assure you, Toir will be well."

"Please? If you are to be a husband, I must attend to your needs. Your companions must serve you well, in their best form. Maybe I am incorrect, but it pains me so to think his harness is cutting into him." I let a stray tear fall down the side of my face as I clutched his hand.

 _And the Oscar for best actress goes to… drum roll please…. Sookie Brigant Stackhouse._ Palug thought at me.

 _I'd like to thank the academy and my darling love Preston for supporting me in this role by his playing the village idiot. It's often argued he is typecast, and it may be true, but he plays the fool so well that he is an asset to any actress looking to shine brightly against the backdrop of his stupidity. Let's give a round of applause for Preston Pardloe. His home town is missing him, but he's our idiot now._ I said breathlessly in my mind to Niamh and Palug.

 _Any plans for future features Sookie Stackhouse?_ Niamh tried not to let her mental voice crack with laughter.

 _We're planning on starring in 'Preston's big day in the woods' and after that we'll be working on 'Preston embarrasses himself by sparring with the princess'. There's talk of a sequel of 'Preston watches Sookie eat fried food: the deep-fried cheese curd chronicles'._ If cougars and wolves could smile… I gave Preston my patented Crazy Sookie smile then and I think it frightened him. It was awesome.

He did as I said and carefully loosened the straps on Toir.

"My vision of elegance and beauty, I will use my Stamine to keep up beside you as we-"

"Oh nonsense my one and only, you simply _must_ ride Fionn. It is so magical and freeing to ride astride a wolf as our ancestors did once in battle." I forced my face to look glowy and pining for times past while I brought my hand up, fluttering it for effect, to my chest.

"As you say, my treasure." I couldn't see his face as he turned to portal atop his companion, but I imagined him grinding his teeth. Just as cats and wolves couldn't smile, they couldn't glower either, but I got the impression I was putting them in a tough position. I had to bet though, that rather than punish them, Preston would just banish them from his sight when we returned home.

I told Niamh to run, forcing Preston to keep up. I knew he had little to no experience on his wolf, but as long as I expected him to act as if he did, he would try. I was such an abuser of the social terms all fae agreed on, and gleefully so. Niall was endlessly frustrated with me, to which I could only smile and say 'must be my human side, grandfather, I will try _harder._ ' Emphasis on the 'harder' translated as 'I will continue to fuck your shit up.'

Niamh paused and waited for Toir and Fionn to catch up.

"My little lamb! Shall I slow our pace? I do wish to reach our secluded glenn before sundown." I said meekly, trying to give the impression that I would be disappointed and hurt if we didn't make it in time.

"Oh Sookie you are like the sun in my sky and I will follow your path to the horizon. That is why I stay behind you, to revel in your brightness!" I could have vomited. He had a retort for everything I threw at him.

"Oh Preston!" I flicked my hand at him and giggled, taking the same hand to cover my lips like some girl on their first date. Fairies ate that shit up. Niamh turned and ran then, setting a grueling pace for anyone inexperienced with riding wolves. Palug weaved in and out of the trees, her gorgeous form stretching forward, propelling herself each time her claws dug into the earth. Niamh's pace was effortless for her, and I could feel her excitement.

I took the time to tap into their bodies, my flesh moving as one with theirs. I could feel them like my arms, and it was now me who was running too. The wind whirled off of my cheeks and I felt my body work on all fours. My legs now loosened, tightened and moved with Niamh's lunges. We were one creature, the three of us. In this state, I wondered how vampires ever killed any of our number. I could feel the fierce nature of my people rise inside me, declaring that the land and all life on it belonged to our magic. I pitied Preston and the rest of the fae for denying their heritage.

We reached our destination all too quickly, the rocks around the falls starting barely past the tree line. Preston had bit the dust and I dismounted Niamh, bidding her to go find him. Taking off Palug's harness, I started taking out the food and blankets I had brought.

Preston showed up ten minutes later, a twig or two in his hair. He got off Fionn quickly and waved his hand through the air at his companions. Fionn became human and started taking off the pack from Toir.

"Let us be alone in this beautiful place you have taken us to, my heart's desire."

 _Watch them._ I bade my girls.

Toir and Fionn took off in their animal forms with Palug and Niamh right behind them.

"I have brought you foods of our people. Extraordinary fruits and sweets that you have never partaken in. I wish to feed you, bit by bit." He scooted close to me and breathed his last sentence in my ear. If I thought I was going to puke before…

"Nothing would delight me more." I sounded a little harsh, but Preston didn't seem to notice. He took some strange looking fruits out of his bag and placed them on the blanket.

"Here." He cut off a piece of this purple fruit and offered it to me. I wasn't sure if he would poison me or not, but I couldn't be too careful.

"You first." I purred. He quickly complied, as he delicately put the piece in his mouth and attempted to chew it sensuously. Instead his cheeks looked like a blowfish all puffed up as I listened to him slurp. He cut a piece off and gave it to me. It tasted amazingly good, as I knew it would.

Before I knew it, we had gone through five fruits, each one having been tested by Pardloe first.

The sun started going down and the outsides of my vision began to darken. Was the sun going down in a world where it never did? The water was slowly moving down the falls now, and I thought I could see every leaf carefully dropping from a tree taking forever to reach the ground. Sound flowed in and out of my ears and I heard Preston from far away.

"Sookie? Sookie…" He teased. He fucking… he fucking did something… and….

 _Wake._

 _Hmm?_

 _Wake._ Louder this time.

 _But it's comfortable here… dark and warm._

 _You cannot stay. Wake._

 _But…_

 _Wake!_

 _Help…_

A stabbing pain hit me in my gut. My eyes opened and I felt hot and cold. In front of me was a paper and in my hand was a pen. The writing came into focus.

 _I, Niall Brigant, bless this union between my true-child Sookie Brigant and Preston Pardloe…_

I shook, rage brimming to the surface. My magic was starting to push outward and it looked for Niamh and Palug. They were close by and they felt terrified and helpless. Claudette and Claude were with them. Niall… was… in the room.

"Sookie darling? Sign the paper." His voice came from the right of me. Preston put his left hand hand on my back. The instant it touched me I blurred and had his left arm straightened out, my left hand grasping his wrist, my back pressed against his body and my right arm wrapped over his with my elbow pushing his bone in.

"I will break it, Preston. I will break all of you." My voice was a hiss. Niall stood then, and I saw terror cross his face. I snapped Pardloe's arm as he screamed, my eyes meeting Niall's.

"The contract between us is broken Niall. His life is forfeit and I _will_ go home." Niall turned and I portaled to where he was, letting go of Pardloe, who was whining and mewling about his arm. I wasn't quite fast enough and he escaped anyway. I stared at the door before ever-so-slowly turning to face the fairy who had poisoned me. His mind was frozen with fear as his body backed up against the wall, cradling his broken arm.

He was not as lucky as Niall in getting away. My hand wrapped around his throat, crushing his windpipe. The anger I felt eclipsed anything I'd ever experienced. This must be what Eric felt like when in blood lust, because I wanted to rend Preston limb from limb.

I moved to the side of him and grabbed his hair, slamming his head down face first on the table. He shrieked and started begging.

"Please… It was Niall, please…"

"It is within my right to kill you. They would have me take you before the council but Niall would ensure I would ensure that I didn't see justice there. And I will have my kill." I pulled his hair tighter, lifting his head off the table.

"I'll testify against Niall. I'll do it, then you can be queen. That's all this was ever about. You're the _queen_." He begged me, trying to offer whatever he could to escape.

"Do you think I care about your politics and hierarchy? I am here against my will Preston Pardloe. And I do not abide by your fucking rules."

"You ungrateful bitch!" He found his own outrage and tried to struggle against me. I had already pushed my Arma over the both of us, cutting off his ability to leave by teleporting.

My eyes closed and I felt the rolling sensation of being taken over. The ancestors spoke through me in the double-speak tone of a multitude of voices layering over one another.

"For your crimes against us, you are sentenced to death." Pardloe's eyes bugged out of his head.

"Niall… He is right. You are the queen." My hand moved with preternatural speed and buried itself in his back, each finger perfectly aligned with the spacing between the ribs. His eyes widened and then his lids went slack as I withdrew my bloody fingers. It wasn't my will that he died.

I was in shock, and I felt my girls burst away from where they stood to come towards the door. My cousins opened it, but let my companions stride in first before entering themselves. Our eyes met as they saw the still corpse of Preston and the blood dripping from my hand.

The ancestors spoke again.

"Justice." Claude and Claudette immediately took to their knee as Niamh and Palug trotted up to me in their animal form. Palug started licking my bloody fingers as Niamh snatched Pardloe by the neck, dragging him out the door.

"My queen." My cousins whispered in unison.

"Rise." They were still in me, but the pressure was lessening from their presence.

"You will speak of this to your sister, and to no one else. She will meet us at our home and she will take us to the earth-realm." When the ancestors were inside me, they always spoke in third person. Which made sense but was disconcerting as I felt my mouth form the words they wanted said.

"Your will be done." They bowed and exited the room. Like a caress, the ancestors were gone again.

Alone with Palug I slouched into a chair.

"Who held you?" I asked. Palug slipped back into her human form quickly and tears started pouring from her.

"Fionn. Toir. We are so sorry. We have failed you. Please punish us." She sobbed.

"Never. This had nothing to do with you. It was all Niall. He harmed me using Pardloe. There was nothing you could have anticipated."

"We love you so. And… we let him near… we went off without thought about you… We are sorry, we are failures." Her hiccupping and crying broke my heart to pieces and I clutched her thin body to mine.

"You're never leaving me, do you hear? I will not let you go and I refuse to punish you. You can do better in the future if you feel so responsible, but you truly are not failures. There is nothing to be ashamed of." I held her and thought of Preston and killing him. Gladiola and Diantha had done most of the killing during our time together, though I'd staked plenty of vampires. It felt drastically different seeing the body stay after death, instead of looking at a pile of goo. It made it real. And I wasn't sure if he deserved to die. Palug heard me thinking.

"No, he did deserve it. And besides, the ancestors decided. Not you."

"You know of the ancestors?" I pulled her away from me in disbelief.

"We all know of them. They speak to the queen. Only her. We know you have the book. We have always known what it is. It hides when those who would betray you are about. Niall and Claudine cannot see it, but Claude and Claudette have. But the proof, it's in the voice. Our rulers of the past speak through you."

"And that makes me queen."

"Yes. But the ancestors don't always speak to a queen. They haven't for several thousand years." Palug was shaking her head, trying to get me to understand something else other than my being queen of the fae. It clicked.

"Since Findabair."

"Yes, since her." She whispered into my torso, having pushed her face onto me in hiding.

"She was a finxit. And you might be too." A male voice stated, the words coming out like a plea.

"You're kidding right?" I asked. Claude walked into the room as he spoke. A finxit was a pretty important distinction, and not something I assumed a half breed could amount to. Not only would I be able to work a Formae to change some aspect of the fae race, but I would be able to make Vitae. A Vitae was what humans might term an enchanted forest or "fairy mound". It was something our people used to do in the human world quite often. If magic was a pool that all our people came from and ended in, a Vitae acted as a spring that tapped into that pool. It allowed for a little piece of the fairy realm to exist on earth. The land itself would be blessed, housing nixe, companions, sprites as well as plants only found in fairy. It required a royal to make one, but it could be maintained by any noble fae. The area also acted as protection, functioning as a ward to keep most other creatures who wished us harm out of the area. Vampires could overwhelm the shields, but it took a lot of them to do so.

Part of the reason our people hadn't been able to handle the earth realm is that the fae war saw the loss of many Vitae as their protectors left for battle. They weren't replaced after, when fairies retreated to our own realm.

Claude shrugged and gave me a broad smile. Claudette and Claudine followed behind him very shortly after. Claudine looked apprehensive and unhappy.

"You have the book?" Claudine blurted out.

"You mean the one that tells me about my powers and otherwise takes over my mind and speaks through me occasionally? Yes. I have that book." I snorted.

She then bowed with a sigh.

"Queen. Finxit." She whispered in the same manner as Claudette and Claude.

"I haven't done anything a finxit would. And Mab is the queen as Niall is prince." Even if I had the ability to work a formae or vitae, it didn't make me queen now. I was more a princess than anything.

"He cannot be the ruler while you are queen. Working a great change is not what makes you the queen." Well that sucked. I had to think about how I could avoid that or it would end up being another reason why I couldn't leave.

"Yes, Palug told me it's the book and the ancestors speaking that make me the Queen apparent. But Niall is the current ruler and I'm just an heir still."

"Yes, but-." They said in unison. All of them stopped and looked at each other, deciding who would speak.

"Queens outrank princes. Our lines are matrilineal and Niall must step down for a queen who wishes the throne. There are no kings of the fae." Claudine offered miserably. She must feel bad for being on Niall's 'side' of things.

"I guess I never noticed that distinction, but what if I don't want to be queen." I tried not to sound like a complainer, but I was failing at it.

"It is a choice, but… there can only be one queen, so you may die if you do not take up the mantle when another is born." Claude looked serious, which wasn't a face he wore well.

"They'll kill me? The ancestors?" That was insane. I just wanted to be me. To go back to my vampires and be with them. I couldn't be the ruler for an entire people. I didn't know the first thing about it and I was resentful of my people. It was their out of line thinking that put them in such an isolated and powerless position. Plus, ruling people I didn't like was not my idea of a good time.

"We don't know. It's never happened, but the scriptures as written by Maeve are clear that there will be one queen alive at a time and there will be no confusion as to who she is." Claudette offered.

"I guess I'll be paying a visit to Niall very shortly." The fairies all looked down, embarrassed.

"He will be stripped of title Sookie." Claudette's voice was soft, "and he would deserve it, but tread carefully. Niall is vindictive." She finished. It made me sigh, because I was a bull in a china shop when it came to Niall, that I knew.

"I have to confront him anyway."

"We know." Claudine offered.

"I'll do my best to smooth things over while I'm there. You'll meet me at my place after?" They nodded and I teleported out.


	28. Chapter 28

A/N Since I've started a second story, I may slow down with this one. Given that more people are enjoying that particular story and this one already has so much written, my updates may be weekly, but at least one every two weeks. I'll catch up eventually! Writing comes in spurts...

Terms:

Ante - Seeing (like x-ray vision for magic)

The palace of fairy was like Disney World on crack. I knew you could get married in Disney World, and if humans could come to fairy and see this, the fairies would make a killing off all the weddings.

I tried not to fall in love with the castle, so that I could maintain the idea that this was a gilded cage. But inside, it was so overwhelmingly gorgeous that I had to enjoy it for its own sake, separate from my circumstances. There were endless depictions of battles against vampires, demons and other fae, all in exquisite detail. Jewels, real ones, decorated the halls. They called to all of us fae. The statues looked like living, breathing creatures and the guards themselves looked like statutes. It was eerie and enchanting all at the same time.

There was no need to announce myself here. Magic blanketed the whole of fae, and each pluck of its strings could be felt to greater and lesser degrees by other fae. As I walked, I stroked my own magic along it, causing it to hum as it rippled out to touch all the other fae connected to it who were nearby.

 _Here I come._

This conversation could be tricky, but I was hoping it would end up being more on the simple side of things. I had killed Preston, which I could do by rights. But it was my word against Niall's and no witnesses. Further, if I exposed myself as being a potential queen, I'd _have_ to stay and rule. It was a delicate situation, because without the clout of being queen, Niall had my life in the palm of his hand. If it came to it, I would take the mantel before receiving punishment, but it would be best if it didn't come to that.

I could feel him in the throne room, and instead of greeting him in his place of power, I walked directly to his office. Opening the door, I settled myself behind his desk on his chair. Portaling from inside the castle to another part of it in a non-emergency situation was not allowed due to the potential for assassins. In an emergency situation only those from inside could teleport within the building and no one from outside could come in. The idea was, if it got bad enough that the palace was under attack, having spies and armies already in the palace move around freely would be the least of our concerns.

He sat, waiting. As did I. Rudely, I started going through his paperwork, taking inventory of his current projects. Open up a business here, invest some money in a company there. Nothing on the plan to keep Sookie Stackhouse in fairy. I didn't expect anything related to that to be out in the open. Most other paperwork in the room was spelled to neither be removed nor read by anyone other than Niall. It was the fairy way, as confirmed by my book.

A smile crossed my face. Niall was on the move. I propped my feet up on his desk. This should be good.

"Truechild." He said softly as he walked through the door.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you want to call me. Here's the deal. Preston is dead, and you know who did it. But I also know who broke the contract. And… I have the book." I'd restricted myself from telling him that detail, but it was important now to let him know that if I really wanted to, I could get out of this without any punishment. We were here, because I preferred not to go that route.

"The book of queens?" I'd never seen him more surprised.

"Yeah, and it doesn't like you. Hence why you've never seen it." His eyes narrowed and his lips became a fine line.

"Your position means nothing unless you should choose to accept it." He hissed at me.

"Exactly dear ole' grandpappy. You want to remain prince? You figure out _how_ Preston died and that'll be the story."

"You're asking a lot. You think I don't want you to be queen? I want you married and to stay here." At least he was honest now.

"I think you want a pawn queen that you can control, who pops out little fairy babies and listens exclusively to you. Now, if you really wanted any of that to happen, you shouldn't have violated the contract. You very well know my actions with Preston wouldn't be forgiven by the fairy court even if you did break the contract. They wouldn't side with a hybrid if they could help it. But you don't want your potential queen imprisoned either, do you? So it looks like we can solve our mutual problem together." He was silent for a moment.

"There will be an addendum to the contract for you not to leave fairy."

"No. I can't do that."

"Won't." He responded sharply.

"Won't then. You know, I don't understand what your deal is with me. I'm nothing special, even with the crown and the book. There can be others."

"I do not have to explain myself to you. Do as I say and agree to not leave."

"Maybe if you explained to me why I should stay, I'd be more fucking amenable!"

"Explain it to you? Why yes truechild, I shall. We are _dying_. All fae, all of the realm itself hangs by the smallest threads to magic. The world here spins ever further apart from the human one until there will _be_ no way to reach it. Your magic is powerful enough that it must be preserved here. Less fae are born with strong enough magic, and here you are a halfling who is a queen without her mantle. We cannot afford to lose anyone with the spark. I've seen you reading the histories, you are well aware that no one has been born who can fix what is happening to our people in many centuries."

"Yes. I know about how there hasn't been a finxit in a while, but I'm not it. And even if you believe I am, it doesn't give you the right to push me into a role I don't want. Nor does it mean you can keep me hostage here just because things aren't going well for you."

"I must do what is good for the whole, not only my preferences."

"Don't confuse self-interest with what you think is best. You're entitled to your own opinions, but not your own facts. You seem to think that the fae need their magic bolstered by hybrids, but I've seen nothing to indicate that a lack of magic is the issue. Since you've brought me here, no one has gotten pregnant. I don't think I am affecting any part of the breeding process."

"If you are so certain that magic is not the reason, then explain the lack of children."

"Open your eyes Niall. Open them! Look with the sight to see what we are inside! Instead of consisting of magic, we are losing what life we have as fae and becoming less corporeal. Fae magic has barely anything to latch itself onto. My magic does, because I'm part human. You've known hybrids are the secret from the get go to fixing birth rates; it's why you've been collecting them. But how do you on the one hand want hybrids to produce more children, yet don't work towards hybrids being perceived as equals or advertising how they're the solution to the problem? All it points to is that you're a manipulative bastard who does _not_ mean well for the whole. Only for those you consider worthy. All hybrids are second class citizens with you and you've tricked me and a lot of the other halflings into being here. I wonder what promises you made to them! Wait, no I don't. Because whatever it was is likely a lie." There were other hybrids here, but I'd been kept away from them, as they have been from each other. The other fae do not like them, as they don't like me. I knew from Claudette that it was worse for them since they aren't royal. They had no real protection from other fae.

"Oh, so would you have come here to fairy if I had asked? Would you have _helped_?" He ignored my comment about his self-serving nature and my theories on fae birth issues in favor of defending his methods.

"You don't need me. And you won't ever know if I would have come here of my own accord or not. You _took_ me using my vampires as leverage. Not only that, you awakened my magic on earth and then _abandoned_ me. Eric saved my life at his own at risk. I know that now. You would have had me in your thrall earlier, and I could have been moulded, but for him. Instead of coming here, I found a better place on earth. A less bigoted one. You know, fairies do not have a monopoly on magic and if you would consider even speaking to-"

"Silence! You are not the ruler of the fae and you've lived a short 20-something years compared to my 1,000 plus."

"It doesn't matter! If anything, your age restricts you from seeing what is in front of you! You need more _life!_ Not more magic!"

"Oh, and suddenly you have become an expert on what is wrong with our people. Forgive me for not consulting with a waitress from a backwater town in Louisiana regarding the fate of our race."

"Nice. I haven't been a human barmaid in years and you know it. And if your head wasn't so big that you can see it from space while it casts a shadow over everything then you might understand what I am talking about. Even now, I look at you with Ante and I see the magic flowing through you and its presence inside your very bones. But it's no longer a closed circuit. There's a hole in your bucket dear Niall, dear Niall." I sing-songed at him, furious at his dismissive tone. Old or no, he was _wrong._ And he was refusing to see what was there, written in blood and magic.

"Taunt me again with your human foolishness and I will end you. You are not needed."

"Why don't I believe you? Oh, maybe it's because I'm a royal heir and the only female out of the bunch. Get bent Niall. And when you're done untwisting yourself, look in the mirror and see how small that little bit of life is in you. It's smaller than Godric's even, and that-"

"You will not speak of the vampires as though they are equals!" He roared.

"I will speak of their kind if I wish! I love them, and I will never love you! Do you know, I found out that the reason I want Eric is that he has consumed my light? I gave it to him willingly, my heart knowing reason which reason does not know! Does it keep you up at night grandfather? Knowing that I would choose him, choose _them_ over this life?"

His body was a blur, but I was prepared. Standing up, he slammed up against my Arma and I pushed it out, causing him to fly back until he activated his own shield and bounced harmlessly off the wall. A lance of lightning was in his hand and he moved quickly to shatter my Arma with it, harnessing his power to a point meant to pierce my own shield.

I'd been experimenting while I was here in fairy. It had been easy to see how complacency and a lack of war had squashed all creativity in regards to doing battle. But, not being completely fae and often finding myself bored with study, I'd found a little trick. It wasn't something every fae could use, because most fae had a barrier between them and the total of magic. But the definition of being royal is that you were _of_ the magic completely. There was fundamentally no difference in the wavelength of magic a royal carried and the net pool of magic itself. All magic was recognized as being part of the pool, and the royal magic was a small puddle attached to that pool, not separate from it.

I ate his magic. It was bright and then it was gone, deposited back into the collective stomach of greater magic. I had yet to figure out if the other fae would have their magic return to them once taken or if it was a permanent drain. I assumed that with Niall it would not be permanent. But against any other fae… I might drain them dry, like a vampire. My practice on this tool had revolved around Senga and Griselda, with Claudette's permission. Though Claudette could not imitate my actions, she easily kept my secret.

Niall's face contorted, highlighted by the magic glowing from his very skin. It reminded me of what a monster I probably was when I fought. No better than him when I killed.

He stopped, very suddenly. It was like nothing had ever happened when the tension of magic seeped out of the air and back to its proper place.

"You will study the book. I will find a solution for Preston. The contract stands. You will not leave but for the way allowed. I will cease with the suitors and other forms of coercion. I will not out you as a potential queen."

Not ideal, but it was as good as I was going to get. Technically Niall did not break the contract as it was worded. Only the spirit of it, which was irrelevant to fairy contracts. Having given his word that he would cease harassing me, I felt confident that in my freed-up time I could find a way to leave.

"Deal." He turned on his heel and swept out of the room.

***Niall***

"They are inferior. Their use is a moot point."

"That is where you are wrong. There is no disagreement here that hybrids are less than we pure fae. But, there is no reason they should not be utilized as tools. My truechild, Sookie, is capable of being queen. But as a hybrid she will never be as powerful. Now imagine this. Think carefully Breandon. You rmother wishes to control the throne, but you could yourself do so, with the right tool. A hybrid tool who is less than you by definition and is only there to satisfy the structures Maeve put in place so long ago. We will be renewed by allowing those with proper leadership rights to manage our people instead of allowing magic to control these sensitive decisions."

"The thought of a hybrid in the throne disgusts me. How do you stomach it?"

"I know that question is rhetorical, but I will answer it: I prioritize saving our people over my discomfort. Do you?"

Breandon was silent. It was time to broach the subject of this entire conversation.

"Sookie killed Preston today. I had given him the fruit of sleep to give to Sookie, which as you know does not effect fae."

"She'll go to court and lose."

"I agreed to leave her alone and dispose of Preston."

"Why in Samael's name would you do such a thing?" Breandon faced me, enraged.

"We must neutralize Mab. She can likely do it, if she chooses to not be a fool. Today she absorbed my magic and redirected it to the pool." I continued.

"Redistributing the magic means nothing. We'd be relying on a half-breed to take down a queen. You've gone insane. If she doesn't succeed both of us will be between a rock and a hard place. Mab wants to marry you and she has several of your court siding against you in favor of that happening."

The noose had been slowly tightening around my neck. Quicker than I could get Sookie ready for use. The time was now, if there ever was one.

"We will introduce them now, and see what becomes of it." Breandon scoffed at my statement.

"The sun will set in fairy the day your half breed takes the jewels from Mab."

"Do be careful that you do not choke on your words, nephew. She also he has the book, while Mab does not." He snorted, an uncultured and unbecoming sound for a royal.

"If she has the book, then it must be confused which further proves magic is dying in our people. I will acknowledge that if she is able to steal the mantle, you may be right that she could be useful, so we will shelve that discussion for now. Now the rest of your hybrids? Your little _pets_? What of them and their usefulness?"

"An army. A disposable one for the moment we open fire on the vampires and dismantle their kingdoms. You have read how they made their endless children of the night… We will make ours."

"Now that… is a goal I can participate in. For that… I will cease searching out and killing the hybrids."

"I hoped you would. I will have the triplets train them, given their acclimation to humans."

"For full fae, they do have quite the weakness for the most pathetic of Lilith's get."

"Indeed. But it serves its purpose."

***Sookie***

I was back in the gazebo, all fairy and companion eyes latched to my form.

"Ok, here's the deal. Contract stands, Niall is going to help with the Preston thing but he's stopping the endless barrage of suitors. Not the most ideal, but less stressful." I broke the silence with a quick run down.

"Sookie, about earlier with you leaving fairy…" Claudette started.

"Yes. Leaving. That would be a really good thing right now. What do you have Claudette?"

"Niall made Claude and I promise not to take you out. But he didn't put the same promise on Claudine." We all looked at Claudine.

"No… No. I am marrying Coleman and I am not leaving!" She cried.

"I get it now. It's perfect. Niall trusts you Claudine. All you have to do is _not_ tell him you know I am the queen apparent, and when it's time for me to leave you tell him I put my claws to your neck and said 'drive'." I was starting to get excited hearing about this information from the triplets. This could be it.

"What?" Claudine's face stopped contorting in despair to looking confused.

"Just say that she threatened you." Claude rolled his eyes, uncrossed and recrossed his legs the other direction. Claude didn't have time for fairies who didn't get earth references.

"This is a big risk…" Claudine was backing away from the edge of the cliff, now realizing that she would either be facing my wrath or Niall's and thinking about the whole matter was better than getting hysterical.

"What's Niall going to do? Kill you?" Claudette barked.

"Yes…" Doubtful. Full blooded fairy women were a hot commodity.

"Ok, how about this, I'll be your safety-net third mate for you and Coleman-" As Claude spoke Claudine started to light up and she opened her mouth to speak. Claude silenced her with a finger, " _if_ and only _if_ you take Sookie out of here as soon as you know you are pregnant and won't lose the baby from the teleporting." Claudine didn't need a third, but since fairies were losing babies left and right, it made sense for her to have one. She had planned to go it alone with Coleman, I know.

"You'd do that for us brother? Oh Claude I-."

"I am unmating you right after. Seriously. A man has to keep his reputation intact." Claude looked at his nails, checking whether they needed to be attended to. Reminded me of Pam.

"Ok I agree! Give me a couple of weeks. You'll come with me to Coleman now so we can start?" Claudine was a wiggly, happy fairy. Claudette had her arms crossed and was trying not to look disgusted with her sister's nesting behavior. Neither Claude nor Claudette could understand what Claudine's fascination was with being "good" and having lots of babies. It was the furthest thing from appealing to them.

"Fine. But I don't want to watch you guys. I usually don't do blindfolds because they're not my kind of kinky, but in this case I can make an exception." Claude closed his eyes and gave a long-suffering sigh.

"I was under the impression that all kinds of kinky fell under your domain Claude." I smirked.

"Then you haven't been paying attention." Claude gestured down at his well sculpted and elaborately clothed person. He wore very little most of the time, including today, but he wore it well. "Would you close your eyes when you could look at this body instead? No. I am an exhibitionist and a voyeur, Sookie. Deprivation of the senses is such a vampire fetish." He sniffed and flicked his hand dismissively.

"Well how was I to know!" I laughed.

"I guess you can just learn that from Eric Northman then." Typical snotty fairy. He continued, "I am also willing to make _sacrifices_ and take lessons from Eric Northman in this area as well." Claude put on his best "beatific saint" face.

"Claude. I will smack you." My arms crossed, I tried glowering at him.

"Sookie. I will like it." He also crossed his arms and pouted at me in mockery. Victory in hand, he turned on his heel and walked out of the gazebo, Claudine skipping behind with a huge smile on her face. Claudette was left sitting with the girls and I. They were uncharacteristically silent, still sad about their being captured and held back from helping me.

"So you feel ok about Preson?"

"Yeah. I've killed before. Some people, new vampires, who were not really deserving but it had to be done. Preston had it coming."

"He did, but we both know it doesn't become easier to kill. This time there was a body."

"Yeah. It was different seeing the evidence. I was also possessed by the ancestors, which made it feel like it wasn't me. Then Niamh dragged his body out of there so I didn't have to watch it jerk around in death." Claudette had killed vampires before as well, in defense of Claude's bar. The fairies had an agreement with the vampire Sheriff of their area to stay out of each other's business. It didn't stop the young or wayward vampires from making a pass at the club. Claudette was Claude's enforcer and bouncer. She'd killed water fae as well. While there wasn't outright war, undocumented skirmishes occurred on a semi-regular basis. Fairies dealt with these deaths by exacting a monetary penalty. Claudette had the income to pay the price of a few dead water fae a month and did it on the regular. Nixes and Sprites didn't merit a fine.

"You did well. Our kind is too dainty to use their claws as they should these days. It was good to see you using one of our natural weapons." She was proud of me, I could tell. While the girls had worked with me to be a better member of the team, Claudette invested a lot of time in me as an individual fighter. The fairy had set out to make me a warrior. Like Eric.

"So about Eric Northman." She started.

"Go on." I was feeling tired now, the day having slowed to the point where I could feel my own exhaustion. Sometimes it wasn't the fighting that drained me, but the thinking process and emotional response from having to do so. Today was one of those days. I needed some time laying in the sun to recharge.

"I figure you know now that you gave him some of your light?"

"Yeah." Claudette enforced a ten minute period of meditation before our practices, where we focused on getting in touch with my magic. There wasn't much left to conquer with it, and Claudette was happy we were past that barrier. Mostly I needed familiarity with its inner workings and an acceptance of my fairy-self. Recently I'd found a small 'leak'. It drifted out of my body and ended at one of the portals that was closed to me. Believe me I tried to go through it. I spent the first week banging my head on it trying to make it open before Claudette attacked me. At that point I only vaguely knew who she was. I had figured I would find a way out quickly so I never bothered to memorize names or faces, choosing to ignore anyone who was introduced to me.

We fought for hours, she toying with me as I viciously threw myself into the fight. Even with everything Godric taught me, she was just too good at manipulating her light. It made me wonder why I was able to defeat Niall when he came to collect me the first time while Eric was present. The battle ended when Claudette burned all of my clothes off me and bound me to a tree with her light. I remember her sauntering over, asking 'you done?'. We got along well now.

"His blood is in your light too. Which means that you both want the other equally as much." That was how I had held off Niall. Why my light had been pink before.

"If you say so." I responded, I tried to be coy about my attraction to the vampire. Which was silly, because everyone and their nephew's friend's boyfriend's nixe knew I had been running around with the undead while on earth. She started grinning like a maniac and I knew she was going to try and rile me over it.

"So all that fantasizing… and the times you spend out in the forest _privately_ doing some _reading_ …"

"Hey, if that's true, you're the weirdo choosing to watch me."

"No need to watch. We all know you're a dirty, dirty hybrid. Then again, I'd be touching myself too if he were mine. Even his smile is so good it should be _illegal_." She cackled.

"Hands and words off the vampire. Anything else while you're at it, pervert?"

"Yeah. In all seriousness, it's probably not bad for you to be involved with him. You might want to blood and light bond with him as quickly as possible because Niall can't break that. Your light never would have gone into him if it hadn't identified that he was a good choice for you. Our magic knows what's best."

"Does it though? Because the ancestors have done that takeover thing before and they have never listened to me when I needed actual help." Being mad at the ancestors had become a favorite past time. They wouldn't say anything when I asked them to get me out of here. They hadn't talked at all until I murdered Preston.

"Why would they do something for you that you can do for yourself?" I guess she was right in that a solution to leaving had presented itself in Claudine. Or they were on the fairy's side, and not mine.

"Fine. So what you're saying is that if I establish one or more eternal bonds with Eric, Niall doesn't have anything on me, correct?" Once I left, I would need a way to keep Niall off my back or he'd just drag me back to fairy again. It had definitely occurred to me that while Niall had agreed to the terms of the contract, even if I left I would still be fair game. My escaping for good would be dependent on being able to reach my contacts to prepare to go into hiding before he knew I was gone. Amelia would have to cast that spell to blur my face and not allow the memory of me to stick around. I'd need untraceable funding and short term accommodations, which would mean I'd probably pull in a favor from Gladiola, since Amelia was too easy of a target compared to the half demoness.

"You got it." Claudette was unique, that's for sure. Much like myself she held no animosity for any species in general, but she had no qualms about defending her family and friends. For her to suggest a bond with a vampire was a concept that would cause another fairy to faint.

"Difference between a fae and vampire bond?"

"Not much. Just keep shooting him with your light. It's a lot like having a companion actually. Takes a lot of trust because you guys can get inside each other's minds and you can take over his body if need be." A vampire would just _love_ that.

"And you think the great Eric Northman is going to be down for that?"

"He's a man in love. What won't he do?"

"You don't know that…"

"I'm sure it was love at first sight. Though why your magic picked a vampire… I don't understand." I groaned. We weren't in love already, were we? We were just guilty of a mutual insanity that caused us to be together. I couldn't regret leaving him on earth, not if it meant saving his and Godric's life. Even Pam could have been, would have been, next on Niall's list if I hadn't come. The decision was quick, but the ramifications were not. Claudette had put up with a lot of crying and fighting it out from me.

"Because he's quiet to me." Well he _was,_ amongst other things.

"In the bedroom?"

"You know what I meant. You're worse than your brother you know that?"

"You mean better. Well that's all I got princess. Toodles!" She teleported out before I could get the last word.

Palug and Niamh had stuck to my side like glue for the past week. I had spent much of my time with them soothing their shame away. The poor dears were being ostracized by their own kind now, excepting the triplet's companions. Which blew my mind away. All of the other companions chose to live in a new hierarchy, different than the not-so-distant past where they were considered valuable counterparts to the fae. Their role now had evolved to staying out of the way and to offer up their throat for the cutting for any perceived failing. There was no sharing of minds and bodies.

It was what happened when a japanese-style culture of honor clashed with the xenophobia from the fae that forced most companions to succumb to self-hatred. Being unable to stop loving their fae masters, but forever being a disappointment and a burden, they were beginning to breed poor personality traits and losing their identities as companions.

It was a despicable thing, and it could not be helped as long as the fae here continued to conform to this standard. Which was very similar to how they viewed hybrid fae.

Eric. I'd had a lot more time to think of him and with the help of Claudette, information on his going ons. The man was incredible, putting off king Bill left and right regarding my whereabouts. Ensuring Godric was hale and whole, though he would have done that anyway. And then there was the fact that he was working carefully behind the scenes to get me out of fairy. Which was hard to do and not alert the other vampires, but he was managing to accumulate information. Not that any of it would help. I was under an agreement with Niall to stay. A fairy one. And even with the change in the contract between Niall and I, it still didn't allow for any openings.

I was waiting until Claudine was pregnant and stable. And then I would have her to worry about after she took me out of fairy. She would have to go back and while I was sure Niall wouldn't kill her, she would be punished. I guess it was worth it to her to ensure she had a child. With that being true, Niall would have to understand. Claudette had told me that though Claudine could handle the pregnancy with Coleman as her only secondary source of light, it would be very difficult. Coleman, like all fae, was possessive and if there was no reason to have a second male, he didn't want one. Claude was the ideal solution, but Claudine would never have asked him and Coleman... wasn't even paying attention to the risks involved with the childbirth. Fae males were still like many other males of the walking and talking variety.

So I was stuck here, daydreaming about the Viking. Not bad as far as dreams go. It was clear now that my obsession and his had been a result of the light I had given him and the blood my light had taken in. While I had eliminated his blood from my body with the bond breaking, it had stayed embedded in my magic which was evident when I had used his strength to combat Niall. Magic had something like its own immune system and it had decided that Eric was not a threat to its existence and should be incorporated. The book hadn't been very good at explaining why it worked with a vampire, but it did mention we had to be open-hearted about our choices. Perhaps no fae could have comprehended being with a vampire. As for me, I'd realized a while ago I'd have to end up with a vampire or possibly a demon, with vampires being my first choice. I'd never met any vampires besides Eric Northman that stirred the pot for me.

Perhaps my magic knew I was going to need a lot of help as a hybrid. I felt a pang of guilt thinking that maybe the only reason I wanted Eric was because he was _useful._ There had to be some intelligence in how my magic picked them, right?

I thought about Richard, Amelia, Gladiola and my Bon Temp family and friends. It must be horrible for them, especially Jason, Sam and Tara. I'd just been there and then I was gone again. Godric would have made sure to reach out to Gladiola and Amelia about it, since Amelia would know exactly what I had been up to once Dark City fell. I thought I'd have more time to call her when I got back instead of getting abducted and taken to fairy.

It would be good to be back again. To see how Richard was holding up. Call Amelia to work some of her protection spells and wards. I could even invite Gladiola to come hang out, if she hadn't already been made barefoot and pregnant by her demon husband. Thinking of her made me realize I didn't know a lot about what was happening with her right now since the wedding.

Currently I was enjoying the book of queens, it having offered up new information on the process of finxit. It was a curiosity, nothing more. Even I had to acknowledge that a finxit was not liable to be a hybrid and I wouldn't want to be one anyway. A wonderful piece of history though.

 _When there is a finxit, she is the only queen of all tribes, her existence acting as a call to order so that all look to her for a Formae to be worked. The royal queens store their power inside their companions as well as jewels passed down through the bloodline of Maeve and Eri. A finxit will collect all of the gems of each tribe when she comes to accept the mantle of queen._

The words changed.

 _Perhaps - I want the old days back again and they'll never come back, and I am haunted by the memory of them and of the world falling about my ears._

"So you are the hybrid that has forced Niall to compromise his principles to keep you." The voice of the unannounced visitor that had caused my book to turn into a copy of Gone With The Wind was female and cutting.

 _Who's a good book today? You're a good book._

I looked up to face whatever fae I had angered now.

"I thought it was considered gauche to show up to one's home without announcement." Her hair was long and purple, her skin an alabaster white. She was noble, her crown a writhing mass on her head that clasped a great many jewels. Her crown was bone, perhaps coral, as were her horns. Shells were strung throughout her hair, clinking together. A hollow sound.

 _Queen Mab._

"I am queen Mab. I need no announcement. The entirety of fairy is my home." The fairy brushed me off. I liked the color of her eyes, a deep sea green, even if they were menacingly looking me over.

"A technicality, clearly." I snapped at her. We were both royalty, thankfully, because otherwise I would have to bow and scrape.

"There is nothing special about you." Her voice was flat, with a slight tone of "I was right". As her head moved, so too did the crown as it readjusted the jewels in it. They were quite pretty. A pear-cut painite gem sat at the center surrounded by tiny pieces of alexandrite. The rest of the jewels were small, as in only a few carats, which weren't that small by human measurements. There was tanzanite, poudretteite, grandidierite, musgravite, rubies, sapphire, emerald and a few diamonds here and there. A few of the gems were color changing depending on the light, and they all sparkled wildly in the sunlight. She was wearing several million dollars in gemstones, and I knew all this because, well… fairies love gemstones. The book had seen to my education as I ooh'd and ahh'd over the pictures it showed me of each kind of jewel.

Mab's crown exuded magical energy, she having likely stored a lot of magic in each stone for use later, as a queen should. It was one of the perks of being a queen, I knew. Niall had a few focus stones, but he didn't have them with him at all times like a queen could. The queen looked around at my area, taking in each cushion, book and decorative items. Her eyes alighted on the few human clothes I had folded up and she practically hissed her revulsion.

My little gazebo wasn't messy or anything, but I felt a little violated that she was taking inventory of what I had here. Mab sniffed, like she'd smelled something quite awful.

"I wasn't aware I had to be special." Palug and Niamh had finally gone out hunting after getting over their 'failure', giving me space to study.

"As a hybrid, you are not entitled to the same rights as a full fae, for good reason. But because you are of Niall's line, I will not punish you for your transgressions today. Now, bow."

"Uh, what?" Bitch, say what?

"You heard me, parvulus, on your knees."

 _Well aren't you the prettiest cupcake with psycho-frosting…_

If she thought I was going to bow, she had another thing coming.

"You know, you make a comically bad villain. Now look, it's been an unpleasant couple weeks to say the least, but that's not to say I wouldn't find the energy or enjoyment in zapping you if you keep standing here being irritating." She had called me 'weakling' in latin. Fairy insults could be so antiquated.

"I will destroy you!" Wow. She sounded like a typecast bad-guy, and I half expected the phrases 'I'm going to make you rue the day.' and 'how dare you peon!' to come out of her mouth next.

"You are a few sandwiches short of a full picnic if you really believe you want to pick a fight with me."

"Enough of these _sandwiches_ you filthy half breed!" I drew my Arma up before her light hit and I tried not laugh that she didn't know what a sandwich was.

I thanked the stars above for Claudette's training. The woman was a genius at combat and she was born in the wrong time. If she had been alive during the fairy wars, I was certain that fairies would have remained in the human world in larger, more protected numbers. Godric had been a wonderful teacher, but he didn't exactly understand how to get me further connected to my magic. Claudette taught me to have the mental headspace space to fight. In the short time we'd been training I had been able to call other objects, like swords and anything else I wanted that was already readily available. Meaning, I couldn't make food, but I could summon an ice tea if it was in my fridge at home.

We also spent time working on portaling during fights. Fighting other fae was nothing like fighting vampires. With vampires you had to be one or two steps ahead. With fae? Try a fast paced chess match where you had to focus on five moves in advance that changed with each engagement. It was through Claudette I discovered that we relied on our magic to increase our thinking speed. Of course, this wasn't something all fae could do. Only the royals and some of the noble fae.

My sword came at my call, and I pressed my Arma out at Mab, combining it with my Audite in order to both hear and force her to hear me. Besides editing memories, Claudette had taught me to use my mind to 'stun' other fae in battle and otherwise try and get them to feel certain ways. I remember the first time Claudette made me feel small and abandoned. There had been a lot of tears in that training session, but it taught me to be stronger and to use those emotions against others if need be.

I chose feelings of worthlessness and not being good enough to throw at Mab, sending them riding on a bolt of light. Her Arma rocked and vibrated as my magic penetrated and allowed some of it to go through. She howled, called her sword and attempted to use magic-reinforced Stamine to teleport inside my Arma. I responded by letting her chase me as I portaled away into the woods, releasing my sword in the process.

Mab herself was a young queen, only five hundred years of age. But like I said, there had been no war in quite some time so most fae never had to fight and royals were strong enough to constantly come out ahead. The queen had likely never had to _work_ to achieve victory. She knew nothing of defeat, I was certain. It made me smile.

She came roaring after me, breaking trees as she landed with her widely spread Arma. Mine on the other hand was tight to my body, allowing me to maneuver carefully and quietly through the forest while the great blundering bitch thundered behind me.

It was time to switch it up again after she had chased me for an oh-so-long thirty seconds. Time spent in battle stretched itself out, every second critical and filled with the potential for failure. I called my sword again and found my way upside down above her, sword above my head, pointed towards her as gravity took hold. That and my momentum allowed my blade to draw down hard on her shield, parting a large enough section in it to allow my other hand to shoot a quick burst of light at her.

She surprised me by automatically pulling up a smaller and tighter Arma around her person, letting the other disintegrate. Though less thick, it shielded her from the worst of the damage. Only her clothes were singed in the back. That was all I could note before I had to move again. This time I made to run away once more, jumping about twenty feet ahead of her. She let her rage express itself in growls and snarls.

Instead of continuing my run, I drew my Arma as tight as it would go and reinforced it before I threw myself into her path. She slammed into me like a ton of bricks as her entire shield stretched and then popped open like a broken rubber band. Instead of using my sword, I decided to try and let her fire at me while I absorbed her magic, like I had done with Niall.

The moment I started my suction of Mab's light, I knew I had made a mistake. Mab's own magic latched onto mine and her eyes lit with delight. She was shoving more into it than I could safely handle for long. Right now I had her magic bottlenecked, but my containment was slowly eroding away as she used her power like a battering ram.

It was too late to pull out. She'd blast me away the moment I disconnected. I could feel the energy coming off her in waves. She had far, far more than I did, and I would exhaust myself before I could drain her stores completely.

Keeping my mind focused on redirecting her magic to the pool, I carefully started pushing out at her with my Audite again, trying to find entrance into her thoughts and feelings. Her mind was locked tight. _Bitch._

Feeling myself falter magically, I sliced at her with my sword. Her Arma reinforced the spot where my blade came down. Fuck.

I felt Niamh and Palug coming towards me in the back of my mind. They'd be here in about thirty seconds. Thirty seconds that was stretching into forever as I started feeling the pressure build between Mab and I.

We were both sweating and straining, and I was starting to feel the heat from my magic burn my hands. All fae had a natural defense against their own magic, but Claudette had warned me that in a fae battle our own offensive magic could reverberate back to us if we were pushing too hard. I was at that point and the pain was creeping up the length of my body.

The girls added the stored magic they had to my power bank as they arrived, but it wasn't going to be enough. Mab barked out a laugh at my bringing companions in, and I could see the stones in her crown burn brighter. She had been playing with me the entire time, and I cursed to myself that Niall had treated me with kid gloves and I hadn't even known it. If I had, I would have spent much more time practicing this. Perhaps that was what he wanted, to give me a false sense of security.

I looked everywhere inside myself for extra power. My line to Eric was too tenuous to pull energy from. My companions were close to drained, given that I hadn't been able to store that much energy into them during the time I'd been here.

I looked internally at my connections to magic sources, both input and output variables. Mab. The girls. The pool of magic. Eric. Ok, I was going to try and pull from the pool first before I touched Mab's. I figured that trying to use Mab's magic against her would be a tougher job than tapping into pure magic to bolster my attack.

My arms burned as the light coursed through them, and I could swear my hands felt like I was holding them over a fire too closely. This had to be done quickly. I reached and _pulled_. It was only a trickle of magic that came back, so I dug deeper, but it was like trying to grab water with my hands. It all kept slipping through my fingers.

It wasn't working at all. The only magic a fae could use was their own, so I'd been told. Still, I reached out and tried to pull some of what she was sending out into my own shrinking coffers of magic. Fragments of light came free and were drifting my way before she realized what I was doing and quickly tightened her grip. Another laugh, more like an arrogant snicker than anything. She left me no avenues to steal any more of her magic.

It felt like I was out of options. I had tried to use my sword, my shield, my mind and my light on her.

She was going to win. And I was going to die.

 _What's left? Godric wouldn't let you give up like this. Don't disappoint him or Claudette! What else do you have on hand Stackhouse?_

I guess I had my Velum, the ability to change my appearance. For whatever that was worth. I could probably use my shields to at least save myself for a moment after disconnecting with Mab, but she'd be on me right after to finish the job.

Slowly, a plan formed in my mind. Mab expected to win. There wasn't an outcome where she believed she would fail.

 _Palug, Niamh. I need you to run when I let go of the magic between Mab and I. Can you do that?_

I knew they wouldn't want to do that at all and the cacophony of emotions rolling off of them made concentrating on my battle with Mab harder.

 _I'm not going to die, but I need you to get the hell out of here when I need you to. Or I will actually die, understand?_

It was too late to get help from any of the triplets. Mab was also the reigning queen of the water fae, so even if someone happened to stumble upon us I'd be the one in trouble, not her. Claudette was on earth currently and Claudine and Claude were wrapped up in pregnancy bullshit. There wasn't a way to 'call' any of them at this point. Fae who were baby-making just didn't have the extra energy to go places or do much of anything.

Finally my two companions assented, readying themselves to make a break for it.

I was on _fire_. Figuratively, but it was about to turn real very soon. I looked at Mab's face, trying to fathom her thoughts. All I could see was a furious alien creature, much like a very angry vampire, staring back at me. Inhuman. Deadly.

Here goes nothing.


	29. Chapter 29

Thanks Suzy for the beta!

Sorry for the long wait on the post. I'm not sure it will be much better next time. Like two weeks before posting? As you probably know and love to hate, I leave cliff hangers. And this is no exception.

If you are fine with E/S/G's, check out my other story. Thanks for the reviews of encouragement to put out a chapter for this. Ya'll guilt tripped me into finishing it ;).

Trigger warning, violence.

Velum - illusion

I lay on the ground, silent, praying to all that was holy that she believed my performance.

It had been easy to pretend I was faltering and terrified at the end. I was. Letting my emotions take over my face, I allowed tears to fall and my eyes to widen in fear. Mab drank it in and pumped a large burst of energy through. As for me, I was at the end of my rope as it stood. That was the moment, right there. I placed all of what was left of my magic in what was intended to look like a last ditch effort to overwhelm her. A stupid rookie move as a fae warrior.

When I disconnected, I pulled up a Velum over myself. I wasn't sure what fried-fae looked like, but I did my best to imitate it. My body tumbled back, rolling painfully across the ground. Most of it was acting the part with a small amount of energy dedicated to looking dead. Curls of smoke rolled off of me and I left my eyes partially open in a death stare.

The Velum was small, intended to go under the radar of most fae's magical detection. I was hoping her Ante would interpret the feel of it as the last of my magic leaving my body.

She chuckled to herself.

"Oh Niall. Such a fool you are. We will be married yet." I heard the characteristic pop of a teleporting fae and she was gone. That was… all too easy. I continued to lay there, not trusting my luck. If she came back, I was a goner. There was zilch magic left inside of me. No calling any other fae, much less my companions.

In a way, I was as good as dead like this. I hadn't accounted for _living_ through this, even though the plan had been to live in the first place. Crap.

My Audite faltered when I tried to reach out to Niamh, Palug and Munin. I was fucked six ways to sunday if I didn't get up, tend to my wounds and eat something.

Well Shit. I had a lot of time to think.

It was time to leave fairy for good. I'd been saying that to myself a lot, but this time I meant it. It would have been nice to say that being in Fairy was fun, but nope. 0/10, would not try again.

Even in my exhaustion, when I thought about going home, the first person on my mind was Eric Northman. Godric would have told him all about our friendship by now. I wondered about Eric. How he was holding up. Whether he was passing the time with other women.

My shiver of possessiveness coupled itself with an anger that blackened the inside of my mind. Rationally I _knew_ I couldn't just go around killing women that Eric had been with carnally. But that did not mean I didn't want to.

When I got back, Eric and I were going to have a talk. He was going to be mine, I was going to run Bill over with that car, stake his ass and jump all over his ashes. Then all would be well. But I guess first, I should place that call to Amelia.

I'd need the spell that had manipulated my face into a blur on camera as well as the memory-charm aspect that didn't allow for others who met me to retain knowledge of having seen me, just to keep Niall from coming back. Amelia had always been extremely talented. I was sure she'd be able to accomplish on her own now that which required Octavia's help years ago, even if she was rusty.

It would be good to see her. She'd grill me about Eric, I'd dissemble and she'd call me out on it. It'd been so long that I honestly couldn't wait for her to tease me. About anything she wanted.

Still no sign of Niamh, Plaug, Munin or Mab. I could feel my magic slowly return to me, but it was like molasses. It'd take a day at this point to be able to get off the ground.

I sighed. Just because we didn't need to sleep in fairy, didn't mean we couldn't. It was the equivalent of vampire downtime, and being bored out of my mind as well as helpless either way, I decided to shut my eyes and block out the rest of the world.

"Oh… Oh god damn. It _hurts_." My vision was fuzzy, but I could still make out that I was inside someone's home. I sat up and looked around, finding myself looking at the blurry image of my cousin sitting in a chair across from the bed I was laying on.

"You're damn right it should hurt." His tone was brazen, reminding me of Lafayette. My eyes were still clouded along with my brain.

"Claude?" I said numbly. He was sassy and agitated, but I could tell he was relieved underneath all of his huffiness. My vision started to clear and I could see how peeved he was.

"You're looking at him, princess puts-herself-in-a-shit-ton-of-danger." My cousin liked to pretend he didn't care much about anything besides getting fairy tail, but all of us girls knew that wasn't true. Each of the triplets had their own way of coping with loss and fear. Claudette kicked the crap out of something, Claudine cried, Claude rolled his eyes and lampooned the offender saucily. But even fairies had emotional weaknesses.

"That doesn't even… that's not funny." I was so exhausted. I must have been out for several hours and I still did not have patience for Claude chiding me.

"It's not meant to be. You're a moron. I don't understand how I am related to you after that stunt you pulled. If your nixe hadn't come squawking up a storm you'd still be laying in the middle of the forest. And I actually like you, so if you could not do life-endangering things that would be great." Claude was more heated than I'd heard him be before. Consciously I knew that what I had just gone through was terrifying, and probably even scarier for those that cared about me. But I was alive right? And… While the triplets were my cousins, in the back of my mind I had always assumed that when it came down to it, they wouldn't pick me over other fairies. But Claude had just openly admitted that he cared for me, which was surprising. It made me feel warm inside.

"You like me?" Claude leaned forward.

"Never tell a soul or I'll photoshop your head onto one of the dancer's bodies that grace our fliers and send them out to everyone in Bon Temp. Plus, you're still an idiot." He shook his finger at me and then leaned back, satisfied with his cheeky-self.

"Shows how much taste you have then." I snickered. I was just starting to feel normal again, albeit drained and achy. Claude's eyes narrowed in mock anger, before he changed the subject with a smile.

"It's been three days, F.Y.I."

"Crap! Mab? Niall? Aren't they going to come find me?" Claude rolled his eyes and gestured to the room.

"Well if you looked around, you'd see you're at my place and not your own. As far as I know, they don't realize you aren't dead. Currently they're engaged in an emergency council. Presumably instigated by your supposed death."

"Mab said something about marrying Niall while I was laying on the ground. Anything to do with that?" I was arrogant enough to assume a full council meeting would be called over my death, but I'm sure what happened between Mab and I had serious repercussions for Niall.

"Yeah, it definitely does have something to do with it. Mab said you had tried to attack her and she killed you. Which I know you would never be so retarded as to do something like that. _Right?_ " I frowned and hugged myself. I was actually that dumb. Claude heaved out a sigh, no words being needed to fill in the blanks about what he thought of me right then.

"So what did you even do or say to Mab? Not that getting her upset is difficult, but she legit tried to kill you." He continued.

"Ms. Cunty mcCunterson showed up unannounced and told me to kneel and whatnot. I led her on a merry chase and thought I could hold my own. Turns out…"

"You know, even I know enough to realize that you get down on your knees when that crazy fairy asks. So now you're going to tell me how you lived through this mess."

"Ok, to be fair, no one told me I had to kowtow to her. As for staying alive, I used Velum to make her think I was dead." I shrugged. I just got off lucky. Had Mab been as skilled as Claudette, I'd be fairy dust by now.

"Int-er-est-ing. You'll have to tell me more at some point. In any case, let me reiterate, none of us thought you'd be dumb enough to not do what Mab asked."

"Ok, I get it, I did something stupid. It's over now, I survived and I want to leave."

"Claudine will be here tomorrow. So lucky you."

"And if I leave, what of Niall?"

"He can't go anywhere while the council is in session. Those meetings can last up to a year sometimes, and Mab is going to delay and argue until she can secure Niall's hand in marriage."

"Why anyone would want to marry either of them is a mystery to me."

"You're telling me. Though I have to imagine parenting those two abominations she calls children has something to do with the stick up her ass. And grandfather… well, he's grandfather." Neave and Lochlan. They were on my shit list.

"Mab apparently has one good daughter, you know."

"Oh so batting one for three? Yeah, no. The twins have the self awareness of a high-functioning pile of seaweed combined with the bloodlust of a vampire. They eradicate the value of anything good Mab might have ever done or will do."

"Yeah. And they eat _people_. I mean, who eats people? I don't know why I am trying to defend their mother either. She tried to kill me."

"Sometimes your human side rears its ugly head. You need to make sure it's only doing that when it's convenient from now on. Thank god your fairy side was in play during your ass-kicking."

"Is Claudine ready then?"

"Yes. It took much less time with my help." It was a huge relief to think that Claudine was now pregnant. No more caterwauling from her on the matter.

"That's awesome. Things are really looking up if I can slip out of fairy without Niall being able to chase me."

"Indeed."

"Ok, so she'll be ready tomorrow?"

"Yes. And we've got a plan too to help bolster Niall's position with the court. You will leave and in a few hours we will tell Niall about your reappearance and disappearance. That will give you a couple of days on earth, if we've got the timing right."

"Why tell Niall? And you're sure that's the right time? It's been rotating a lot recently."

"Niall needs an ace in the hole and ultimately it will protect Claudine to run straight to Niall and tell him. Also, you're questioning the fairy who goes to earth on the regular sweet cheeks. The portal is ready to go and you're going in it tomorrow, with one catch."

"What's that?" I was suddenly nervous, wondering what Claude was going to ask for. I should have anticipated that Claude would ask for something for his help. He's a damned fairy.

"You have to find out if Eric is as well endowed as they say. Now, you've seen me in my work uniform, so think on whether it's more or less than me." I was astounded at his unabashed words.

"Claude! What the fuck! You had me freaking out! Over the size of Eric's… Gracious plenty? Really?"

"Come on! This urgent mystery will not solve itself! The deets, when you get home, _please_." He was serious!

"You fairy fuck... "

"You said it. And as any fae worth their fairy dust should know, nothing comes without a price!" He was grinning, pleased as punch.

" _Fine_."

"Oh goody! I'll go tell Claudine you're good to go." He popped away.

"Ready?"

"Been ready since before I came here." Niamh and Palug were at my side, brushing up against my legs. They would be coming with me.

"Now, now there dear! You'll be home soon!" Claudine had been oozing saccharine comments all day while we were getting ready. Further confirming that I would not want to be prego, like, ever.

Coleman had made himself scarce. Claudine told him that she was performing a favor and that it was best he not know about it. Claude and Claudette stood at the ready to intercept any fae that might be nearby enough to hear or see me leaving with Claudine.

"You guys will be ok?" I asked each of them in turn.

"I'm a little light on magic, but it's fine. I don't need magic to shake it in my club." Claude gyrated for a moment while Claudine rolled her eyes. Claudette's eyes were fixed on the horizon, her sword in hand and a modified Arma in the shape of a shield sitting on her arm. This was something Claudette had taught me, to make the Arma more compact and not a bubble. The shield was easily changed to be larger or smaller depending on need and our swords would plunge through it with ease, negating the need to cover her left flank. The concentration of magic helped increase the strength of the shield 10 times over a full Arma.

"Ok, so where do you want to go?" Claudine was rubbing her belly dreamily as she asked me.

"Are you comfortable with us being outside Fangtasia?" That'd be the best way to get in touch with my vampires.

"Not really…" Her voice had the same cadence. Not much would disturb the breeding fairy from her preoccupation.

"Ok, how about Merlotte's bar?"

"I've never seen it before. Send me a picture?" I pushed my Audite out to her and found her mental shields permeable to my influence. The parking lot of the bar was the focal point in my mind, and I pushed it on through with a little pop.

"Ok, let's push the boundaries of time as far back as we can." Time was a strange thing in fae as it related to the other plane. It could stretch far in advance or it could squish together. A fae could reasonably manipulate it to tighten up, but only so much.

"I've got six months, thereabouts."

"It'll have to do." Six months of time having passed. I sighed.

"Great! Take my hand." Palug and Niamh grabbed hold of me and Munin flew down to rest on top of Niamh's shoulder

I reached out and touched claudine, and we were in front of Merlotte's instantly. Claudine backed away, letting go of me.

"Good luck true sister!" I hated the distinction of being "true". It was a term used for close relationships between the fae. While the triplets and I were cousins, our close relationship made us siblings. Which made it all the more insulting when Niall called me his true child. As if I mattered to him that much. As if I wasn't a means to an end.

Claudine popped away and I was left staring at the busy bar. It was dark.

"Girls, go to my farmhouse with my stuff in animal form and inspect the area for fae presence, then come to Fangtasia. Palug, ride on Niamh with some clothes for you both. This is what you should dress like." I pushed images of Fangtasia, where to find it as well as what they should wear. I would have transported all of us to somewhere near my land, but I couldn't be sure that Niall had left the area unattended. My companions wouldn't be easily detected by any fae there, making them the best option to scope out the place.

I was certain that once Niall knew I lived, that he would find other ways to be an inconvenience and if not, entrap me into fairy once again. The bastard was never going to have me again if I could help it.

***Niall***

"What have you done." I looked down on my most loyal of the triplets. The one who had always done as she ought. She kneeled before me, her pregnancy beginning to shine its light through her skin.

"She threatened my baby Niall. I _had_ to." Claudine was a mess of tears and fear.

This had more to it, I was certain.

I lanced into her mind, tearing her shields into pieces and stripping out the information I desired.

It had been a mistake to trust Claudine. And what needed to be done now was unfortunate.

"You are forgiven. Had I compelled you to not allow her out, this would never have happened. If I had found a second mate for you, there would have been no bargaining. I have failed you." I cupped her cheek as she relaxed into my hand.

"Go, child. Let Coleman comfort you. I will manage this." She nodded, smiling and tear-stained face filled with relief and hope.

"Thank you for your forgiveness grandfather."

"Think nothing of it. You are my pride and joy." She looked down at the ground before she stood up and teleported away.

 _Neave. Lochlan._

I called Mab's children to me, and they appeared by my side. They had been feeding, their mouths and teeth red. Their cheeks were still rusty with old blood. Disgusting creatures though they may be, they had their place and use.

"End Claudine and her husband Coleman. Claude and Claudette are mine." They hissed with joy, grasping each other's bodies as they faded out.

***Claudette***

Her eyes were glazed over, looking into the bright sky of fairy. I noted her sword in hand, Coleman lying atop the lower half of her body.

I walked around them in a circle, noting the damage with a clinical eye. Coleman's face was gone, teeth marks in what was left of his skin by the one side of his head I could see. Eyes plucked from their sockets.

It was an abnormal feeling for me, to be frightened of what lay underneath Coleman's body. Death was a constant threat, even in fairy. I'd seen bodies. I'd been the one to kill them. This was nothing new.

I pushed Coleman off of Claudine with a single foot, avoiding the blood stains as much as I could. And I wished I hadn't. I needed to know, but I hated that I did.

Claudine's stomach was empty. Scooped out down to the spine. Her chest was ravaged and I noted evidence of the hole in her dress that sat at the apex of her legs, which were spread open. It could not be unseen.

Claude was panting, his eyes were wild and unfocused.

"I revoke my fealty to you, Niall. I separate my magic from your hearth. I take my sword from your ranks. I rescind the bindings of kin." His voice was hoarse, silver tears cascading down his face.

"We must end them." I said quietly. Afterall of this… afterall of this brutality, they were still alive.

The mark of Neave and Lochlan to leave the bodies and not offer them the mercy of the summerlands.

"I cannot!" He sobbed.

"Turn." He obeyed and walked over to a tree, gagging. I placed my sword over the back of Coleman's head and plunged it in. Dust. No message from him. His spirit had likely sought out his family before he went to the summerland.

I looked down into Claudine's eyes. Her magic flickered in recognition of mine, but her body did not move. Kneeling, I caressed her face.

"He will die. Not this day, but we will take him." I hid the dagger behind my body, having called it. Keeping it from her view, I plunged it into her temple. She too, turned to dust and I stood up.

Claudine's soul was there waiting.

Claude had already turned back after he heard the puff of Claudine's disintegration, waiting for our sister to show herself.

"Niall will be punished accordingly. There is no need to pursue him. But, Sookie _will_ need you. She does now. Go." And then she was gone.

I screamed in rage.

***Sookie***

I didn't bother walking into Merlotte's. Instead I teleported over to an alley near Fangtasia and spread out my Audite immediately to isolate any voids nearby.

I was lucky. The vampires were concentrated inside the bar and I let Velum fall over me in a wave, turning myself into human-Sookie. I picked the white dress with red flowers, knowing that repeating the outfit would be the perfect gift to a man with photographic memory.

From a distance, there was a vampire at the door I did not recognize. She was brunette with large doe eyes and pink lips bordering on red that looked fantastic against her pale skin. I mentally swatted away my jealousy. Her void was tiny, a newborn, and no threat to me.

Her presence made my decision easy. I would walk straight up to the front door and into the arms of Eric Northman. The vampire at the door would likely not know of me, and knowing Eric, he would keep my existence a secret from others with Bill creeping around.

Part of me had expected some kind of change in clientele or appearance of the bar, but it looked exactly the same as it had the first time I came here. Skimpy skirts and tops. Fishnets and high heels. To be fair, I had my own pair of pumps on, but they were classy red Louboutins.

Ever so slowly, the line crept forward. It may be the south, but a vampire club need not move the speed of molasses. I sighed and took little steps forward as a few people were let in at a time.

"Sookie Stackhouse. What kind of name is Sookie?" The brunette woman tried to look sarcastic, but it only came off as insecure.

"The interesting kind. Is that all?"

"You're not dressed for this establishment." She bared her fangs and smiled at me. The other fangbangers jumped back and then cooed over the vampire. I was so tempted to show her my silver, practically hypodermic needles for teeth. But that would be rude!

"I don't see a sign that says I can't dress like this."

"Since I happen to be a vampire, I make the rules." The brunette smirked and bared her tiny fangs at me further. They were petite. Ah, the newly dead.

"Listen baby vamp, when Eric or Godric finds out you restricted me access to this club, one or both of them is going to smack you around six ways to sunday. Now if you don't want to spend your evening silvered in the basement of Fangtasia, I suggest you step aside."

"Who the fuck do you think you are human? I could rip out your fucking throat! You know what?" Her eyes bored into mine as she began her attempt to glamour. "Leave. When you get home, cut off all your hair and decide you want to live your life as a carnie. Take up smoking and drinking as well. Also, sleep with ten guys in the next ten days, slut."

"Wooowww. Is that the best you got princess? I am going to be having _words_ with Eric and Godric about your behavior. Probably Pam too. In any case, you can deal with the mess you made."

 _Enough of this bullshit._

I quickly ripped a memory out of a fangbanger's head of the bathroom in Fangtasia and teleported into it. Not certain I could modify memories as of yet, I was taking a big risk in exposing the supernatural to some humans, but I was sure Eric would handle it later if I messed up. Straightening my hair in the mirror, I walked out onto the dance floor.

The throne was empty and I recognized none of the vampires here. Which meant none of them would recognize me either. I drew unwanted attention from them anyway. Carefully I avoided the eyes of a few vampires who started to stare. Staring was a precursor to glamouring, and I didn't want them to know I couldn't be. I'd already showed my hand to the vampire up front, but I was certain that Eric could get her maker to command her to not say anything about me.

I knew the vampires in attendance would stop me immediately if I tried to walk into Eric's office and I didn't know where it was exactly either.

Slowly I combed over the minds of the fangbangers, looking for a human who had been in his office. Finally I found a memory from a woman. Thank god she had been with Pam and not Eric.

I couldn't be certain it was his office, but it was no matter. I popped in.

***Eric***

Godric sat staring off into the distance. My maker was waiting, spending most of his nights in downtime. If I wasn't feeling similarly impatient I would have considered his actions both depressing and terrifying. I dealt with my feelings differently.

Pam had gotten me a large recycling bin for my office that I was collecting empty true blood bottles in. Occasionally I would partake of some bagged blood, but there had been no donors in the past six months since Sookie had disappeared.

Godric had been healed for months now, with no lingering weaknesses. We had mopped up the other problems that had come our way, and finished cleaning those we had created.

The phone rang.

"Eric."

"This is Rasul. The king is increasing your tithe by 3% this year given your area's profitability. He will also require you to attend his next ball with an appropriate human guest. If you do not have anyone in mind, he would be happy to provide you with a human." Ah, reliable old Billiam.

"Thank you Rasul." Godric was still staring off into the distance, a seated statue.

There was a shift in the air and then a pop as Sookie appeared.

I was the first to move and I wrapped her up in my arms, unconcerned with any protests from her on the matter.

Godric was there as well, scenting to see if she was injured or hurt. His fangs were drawn as he angrily stalked around us looking for any mistreatment of the fairy. Finding none, he sheathed his fangs and also hugged her. It didn't make me upset in the slightest. Godric had been her teacher and defender, a father figure to her as he had been to me.

I pressed my face into her hair and drank deeply of her scent. She had been cloaking, but she let a little of her natural smell slip through and I hardened immediately. Sookie pulled her head away from my attentions and looked me in the eyes, her arms wrapped around my torso.

"You going to kiss me or rub yourself all over me first?" Our lips collided, my fangs clicking against her teeth. I shamelessly cut both of our tongues and we groaned at the mingled blood. Something that had been uneven inside me leveled out. I had, without asking, formed our first blood bond. Well, second first bond. She did not seem perturbed.

I purred and ran my hands up and down her frame, noting the soft underside of her breasts down to the curve of her hips and full, round ass.

"Master! Something-" Willa blew through the door, taking her cues from Pam on how to interrupt her maker when he's doing something important.

"You!" Willa shrieked at Sookie.

I normally would have made a move to subdue Willa and stop her from further overreacting, but it was not necessary. Beyond vampires being able to move imperceptibly fast to humans, we were able to track the speed of other vampires without issue, down to the microsecond. Fae and Dae were also able to see us move, though they could not necessarily move as quickly as we could.

Sookie shifted in my arms, changing from human to fae almost instantaneously. I watched as she popped out of my arms, in front of Willa, grasped her by the throat and then portaled over to my couch where she slammed my progeny down on it roughly. Sookie took her spare hand with extended silver claws and pressed them into Willa's chest.

"Yes. Me." Willa tried unsuccessfully to pry Sookie's hand from her throat and screeched when her fingers touched the fairy's claws. Pushing her clawed hand further onto Willa's chest, my progeny's skin started to sizzle through the fabric of her dress.

"Eric!" Willa's eyes were wild as she cast her gaze out to me for help. Pam chose that moment to come in followed closely by a cloaked Thalia.

"Willa. You are to stop attacking Sookie immediately and you will come and stand by me. No biting. Bad baby vampire." Pam drawled. Sookie smirked and let go of Willa. Being so young, my progeny had no will to resist a maker or designated maker's command. Her body was pulled into standing position beside Pam.

"Now you put those fangs away and explain yourself young lady. And if you don't do so to my satisfaction you will go to bed with a spanking and no blood sippy cup for you." The weekend previous, Willa had spilled blood on Pam's couch. Pam, being pragmatic and precise, told Willa that if she couldn't keep it in her mouth, she would be fed like a tea-cup human. Hence this plastic contraption the humans called a "sippy cup" that didn't allow for spillage. Willa was to drink from this for a week and this was to be her last night… was.

"This _thing_ demanded entrance to the club and then proceeded to disappear in front of the humans after threatening me. When I saw her here I thought she was attacking _my_ master." Willa's eyes were glowing with hatred for Sookie. This had been exactly what I was afraid of. Godric shifted imperceptibly. None of us had been looking forward to this moment.

"Who is she Eric?"


End file.
